Cartoon Canine Craziness
by Jonathan R
Summary: When a whole bunch of animated dogs are dognapped by an evil dogcatcher, it's up to eight talking dogs who must try and rescue them. 12 complete chapters of action and suspence! R
1. The Abductions

CARTOON CANINE CRAZINESS

Starring: Buttons and Runt from "Animaniacs"; Blue from "Blue's Clues"; Courage from "Courage the Cowardly Dog"; CatDog from "CatDog"; Goddard from "Jimmy Neutron"; Gir from "Invader Zim"; Enrique Jr. from "Grim and Evil"; Porkchop from "Doug"; Talking Dog from "The Powerpuff Girls"; Friskett from "Reboot"; Spike from "Rugrats"; Scooby Doo from "Scooby Doo"; Astro from "The Jetsons"; and Santa's Little Helper from "The Simpsons".

(All characters are property of their respective creators.)

  
  


"The Abductions"

  
  


The day started out like any other day. Cartoon characters everywhere were going about their business, as usual. Some were continuing their epic adventures. Others were trying to get through the day by being as funny as possible. Then there were those who played with their pets. Dogs, to be precise. For it seemed that nothing could spoil the fun and excitement of a dog playing with it's master.

But elsewhere, a very sinister figure had other plans...

  
  


It was a bright, sunny day. In a quaint, little neighborhood, Buttons the dog lay down in the backyard. He glanced lazily at Mindy, who was attached via safety harness to a tree. She was doing somersaults in the grass, which isn't easy when you're tied to a tree by a ten foot cord.

The backdoor opened and Mindy's mom walked up to her. "Now darling?" she asked. Mindy stopped somersaulting. "Mommy and Daddy are going out, so you stay here with Buttons, OK?"

"OK, Lady," said Mindy.

"Please, stop calling me 'Lady'. Call me 'Mom', 'Mommy', anything but 'Lady', alright?"

"Okay, Lady," answered Mindy.

The mother sighed. As she walked over to the family car, her husband called out from the vehicle. "Keep an eye on her, okay Buttons?!"

Buttons barked in agreement. The woman got in the car and it drove off.

Buttons turned his attention back to Mindy. He sat up straight and watched her every move. He decided that this time, he was not going to let Mindy get away again. If she got even halfway out of her harness, he would dash over to her and keep her in. Buttons knew that he wouldn't be getting any treats if Mindy escaped.

Now Mindy was getting herself tangled up in the cord. She hopped up and down until she ended up behind the tree. Buttons thought about checking up on her, but he could see her shadow on the ground and decided that she was still there.

It was at that moment that Buttons suddenly noticed a shadow passing over him. Was it his imagination, or did he hear footsteps behind him? Buttons slowly turned around saw someone standing behind him. Buttons yelped with fright.

Behind the tree, Mindy heard Buttons and tried to wriggle free. "Buttons?" she called out. Then, somehow, she found the release mechanism on the harness and, just like that, she was free. 

Mindy came out from behind the tree and saw no sight of Buttons anywhere. She looked at the house with its locked doors and windows. Where could Buttons have gone? She was only behind the tree for a minute.

"Buttons!" she called out. No answer. So she started walking down the sidewalk, calling out Buttons' name. (It's odd to see Mindy searching for Buttons, for a change.)

*****

Several hundred miles to the east of Mindy's house, on a green hill, sat a brightly-colored dwelling. Inside, a blue-spotted dog named Blue slept on a big red chair. His human friend, Joe, was in the kitchen, getting a bite to eat after his last Blue's Clues game. 

Blue's eyes flew open. His doggy door was flapping back and forth. How did THAT happen? Blue jumped to the ground and approached the door. Maybe one of his friends was on the other side. Blue stuck his head out through the doggy door. Suddenly, something grabbed Blue by the neck and pulled him through the door!

"Blue?! Here boy!" called out Joe from the kitchen. He entered the living room. The red chair stood vacant. "Now where could he be?" 

Joe began asking everyone for help. The salt and pepper shakers. The mailbox. The shovel. Even Periwinkle, the purple cat next-door. Each one of them said the same thing. No one had seen Blue.

"Well, he must be around here somewhere," said Joe. "Hey! Let's see if we can find a clue as to where Blue is! C'mon!" And he ran back into the house, expecting someone to follow him.

*****

Far away, on Bunny Island, Hector Con Carne (or, more specifically, his brain) sat in a container on top of Boscov the bear's head. Hector's stomach sat in a container on Boscov's stomach. Boscov himself was carrying a newspaper and a bowl of dogfood in his paws. The symbiotic conquerors were walking down a hallway towards the room of Hector's dog, Enrique Jr.

"Ahhh, what a day," said Hector. "Clear skies, morning paper, and my latest plans for world domination are finally complete." The stomach and Boscov made sounds of agreement.

They were approaching the door to Enrique Jr's room when suddenly, a loud BOOM knocked the bear off his furry feet. The hallway shook and Boscov dropped the food and paper.

"Egad!!" shouted Hector. "That came from Enrique's room!"

Boscov ran to the door at the end of the hall and threw it open. "GOOD GRACIOUS!!!" yelled Hector. 

The room of Enrique Jr. was a mess. Dust, fabrics, and other materials were scattered everywhere. Most obvious was the gaping hole in the wall that led outside towards the docks.

"Boscov! Alert the troops!" shouted Hector. "Someone's dognapped Enrique Jr.!"

"Someone's what?!" shouted Dr. Ghastly who rushed up to Hector with Skarr right behind her. Both of them stopped and gasped at the damage.

"Our dog is gone! We must find him! Come! Let's look at the security cameras! Quickly!" And with that, the group of villains ran back toward the security room.

*****

Meanwhile, in the town of Bluffington, Doug Funnie's dog, Porkchop, sat on the steps of Doug's house. In his opinion, today was a very dull day. Not one interesting thing had happened since morning. Nothing except Doug's sister Judy making a fit over finding her beret among Doug's laundry. Porkchop sighed with boredom.

Just then, he saw something fly from behind a bush on the edge of the property. Porkchop lifted his head and sniffed at the air. It was a ginger snap! Porkchop licked his lips, got to his feet, and walked over to the cookie. As he ate it, he saw another cookie land on the sidewalk. He waltzed over to it and was just about to lick it up when he felt something stringy landed all around him.

"Gotcha!" said a man's voice.

Just as Porkchop realized he was caught in a net, he felt himself being hauled into a large truck. The moment he was free, the doors closed, leaving Porkchop alone in darkness. 

Back in the house, the phone rang. Doug's Dad picked it up. "It's for you, son," he said.

"Thanks, Dad," said Doug, who took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Doug!" honked Skeeter. "Are you gonna head on out to buy The Beets' latest album?"

"Oh man, I forgot! I'm on my way, Skeet!"

"Hey, don't forget to bring Porkchop, too."

"Okay, bye!" Doug hung up. "Hey, Dad! I'm gonna meet up Skeet at the music store, okay?"

"Alright, son. Be careful."

"Porkchop!" called out Doug. He ran upstairs, downstairs, and outside. There was no sign of Porkchop anywhere.

Doug knew that Skeeter was probably waiting for him at the store. So Doug walked down the sidewalk wondering where Porkchop could be.

*****

Elsewhere, in the digital community of Mainframe, Bob parked his hoverboard outside Dot's Diner. He approached the front door and noticed that Friskett wasn't sleeping in front of the door this time. 

"Wow. Today must be my lucky day," he said to himself. He entered the diner and took his usual seat.

"Hi, Bob," said Dot, who came out from the back room. "The usual?"

"Yep," answered Bob.

"One energy shake!" she called out to the cook.

"So, Dot, how are things?" asked Bob.

"Oh, just fine. How are things with you?"

"Same as always," answered Bob. He looked out the front door. "I wonder where Friskett is."

"I haven't seen him in quite a while," responded Dot.

Suddenly the front door burst open. It was Enzo (the young version, before he got zapped into the Net.) 

"Bob!" he cried. He had a look of shocked surprise on his face. Bob had the same expression when Enzo dove at him and pinned him to the floor. "It's terrible! Something horrible has happened! We're talking end-program, log-off, shut-down, catastrophe!!"

"Whoa, whoa, Enzo!" exclaimed Dot. "What's wrong?"

"It's Friskett! I can't find him anywhere!"

Bob got to his feet. "Have you checked his usual hangouts?"

"I've looked everywhere!" said Enzo. "I think someone took him!"

"What do you think, Bob?" asked Dot.

"Well, I'll ask around. Don't worry, Enzo. We'll find him." With that, Bob ran out of the diner, jumped on his hoverboard, and zoomed away. Enzo began to follow, but Dot pulled him back.

"Easy there, Enzo. First, I think you'd better help me put up some signs," Dot said sympathetically. 

"Okay," he said and followed Dot to the back of the diner.

*****

"Tommy?" asked Chucky.

In the backyard behind his house, Tommy looked at his friend Chucky. Phil and Lil were nearby.

"What's wrong, Chucky?" asked Tommy.

"Where's Spike going?" Chucky pointed to where Spike was walking. He was heading toward the side yard.

The four toddlers followed him. They peeked around the corner just in time to see a van pull away from the house.

"Wh-what happened to Spike?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe he went to drive that big car someplace!" exclaimed Phil.

"Or maybe he walked back around the house," said Lil.

"Or maybe Spike dug a big hole so deep that he came out the other side!" said Chucky. His friends just stared at him. "Or not."

"Well, I know Spike," said Tommy. "He's been gone before. He'll be back before you know it."

At that moment, Tommy's mother, Didi, came up from behind him and lifted Tommy into her arms. "C'mon, kids. Lunchtime!" As she entered the house, she added, "Hmmm. I wonder where Spike went to?" 

*****

In the city of Springfield, a family known as the Simpsons lounged around their house. Homer and Marge were trying to feed Maggie while Bart and Lisa were watching the Itchy and Scratchy show. As this was going on, the family dog, Santa's Little Helper, was scrounging around the garbage cans on the side of the house. He was always decently fed, but he always remained skinny for some reason. Maybe the trash cans had some extra food in them. 

The dog was so busy searching for food that he didn't hear footsteps coming from behind him. As he gnawed on a steak bone, he felt two hands grab him and lift him off the ground! S.L.H. was so startled, he dropped the bone and began wriggling around. Eventually, he arrived at a gray van and was unceremoniously tossed onto the passenger seat. The person who grabbed him walked around the van and entered the driver's seat. S.L.H. observed an old man around sixty who had a mustache, glasses, and a bald spot on his head. He was also wearing a dogcatcher's uniform.

"Don't worry, little one," said the old man in a raspy voice. "We won't be going far."

As he put the van in gear, S.L.H. noticed a window behind him. He looked in and saw six other dogs lying on the floor of the van. They were fast asleep, thanks to a fast-working sedative.

The Simpsons' dog whined as the van zoomed away down the street.

Inside, Lisa looked out the window just in time to see the van pull away. "Mom!" she cried out. "I think someone's been watching us!"

"That's crazy," answered her father. "There's not a single person on Earth who would be interested in everything we do." At that point, Maggie threw some baby food into Homer's face.

"Doh!"

As Marge cleaned up the mess, Lisa went upstairs to do her homework.

Marge turned to her husband. "Did you hear a van pull away from our house just now?"

"Probably an IRS audit team," said Homer. He looked at the kitchen table, which was filled with tax forms. "They've probably been checking to make sure we've filled out these 1,040 forms."

"You mean 1040 Form," corrected Marge.

"Well, it seems like we're filling out 1,040 forms!" exclaimed Homer. "These government regulations are beginning to get out of hand, Marge."

In the living room, Bart overheard the conversation.

"Hmph. Good thing commercialism isn't getting out of hand," Bart said to himself as he continued watching commercials and chomped on a Butterfinger. 

  
  
  
  



	2. I'll Send An SOS to the World

"I'll Send An S.O.S. to the World"

  
  


Night had fallen.

On the tip of Cape Cod, a large warehouse overlooked a giant cliff that dropped straight into the Atlantic Ocean. Inside the building, the dogcatcher stood behind a large glass panel in his office. Below him, a room filled with cages was illuminated by flourescent lights on the ceiling. In some of the cages, were the dogs that he'd already captured.

"Hope you enjoy your stay," laughed the dogcatcher. He turned and left the room.

Nearby, the cartoon dogs were becoming impatient inside their cages. Enrique Jr. was already asleep, but everyone else was consumed with worry. Buttons wasn't too worried, since Mindy was still tied to the tree...at least, he hoped she was. Blue was upset because he didn't leave Joe any clues as to where he was. Friskett tried biting the bars of the cage, but they were made out of some unfamiliar metal that was unpenatrable. Porkchop, Spike, and Santa's Little Helper were all equally worried as well.

They were not the only dogs that were being held in the warehouse. In other rooms, over 100 other cartoon dogs were being locked up as well. Most of them didn't have names because they only appeared once or twice on a TV show. These extras were no better off than the named canines.

It wasn't long before something began happening. An announcement was being barked from dog to dog; from one side of the building to the other. "A matter of urgency. We need help. Send out subconscious SOS."

Then, one by one, each dog closed its eyes.

Now, everyone knows that dogs have a sixth sense. They are able to detect and transmit information in a way that is not fully understood by humans. What you probably don't know is that this sense is intensified when a lot of dogs use it within close range at the same time. Using the sixth sense, all the animated canines were able to send out an SOS that could be heard from other dogs across the entire country! During the day, this message would be picked up like any of the other senses. But at night, the message could be received in a highly detailed thought, or dream. 

The message, roughly translated, went something like this: "SOS. We're in trouble. Take Greyhound. Cape Cod. Save us."

It would've been easier if the dogs had been directing the message to the west, but because they were facing the Atlantic Ocean, they accidently sent the message east instead! The message traveled across the Atlantic, through Europe, Africa, and Asia. A countless number of dogs received the universal message, but they didn't do anything about it because they either couldn't understand the message or they didn't know where Cape Cod was. Besides, they received canine SOS calls all the time and, unless it was close by in their own country, they felt like it didn't involve them. 

It wasn't until the message traveled over the Pacific Ocean that it finally became intercepted by U.S. canines...

******

The Warner Bros. studio was located in Hollywood, California. Here, the Animaniacs were always running around for some reason or another. Other characters from the show were also engaged in activities in the studio. Pinky and the Brain were coming back through the front gate after another failed attempt to rule the world. Slappy the squirrel was complaining about the food in the lunch building again. And, in an alley behind Studio D, Rita and Runt were scrounging around looking for something to eat.

It's not like they were malnourished all the time. Rita's singing voice always provided the two animals with something to eat on some nights. Otherwise, the cat and dog were usually looking around garbage cans for something to eat. People sometimes felt sorry for them, but they didn't mind. They were used to it. They did pretty much everything together. That is, until the night Runt received the message.

Like I said before, Rita and Runt were fast asleep behind Studio D when Runt received the SOS. In the 'dream', Runt was standing in front of a big sign that said "Cape Cod" on it. Behind it was a prison. Runt walked over to the prison, but instead of human inmates, there were dogs! Cartoon dogs wearing orange prison suits. All the dogs walked over to the gate and started calling out for Runt's help. That's when Runt woke up, slightly shaken by the vision. (Of course, the dogs aren't being held in a real prison, but dreams do have a tendency to exaggerate.) He leaned over to Rita, who was sleeping on a garbage can lid, and shook her awake.

"Rita. Rita! Wake up!" said Runt.

Rita groggily opened her eyes. "What is it, Runt?"

Runt excitedly told her the dream he just had. Rita's eyes opened wider. She just had the exact same dream! (Cats, by the way, have a sixth sense too, but it's slightly different than a dog's.) However, she had a feeling that it was more important to Runt than it was to her. She didn't want to admit that, so she said, "It was just a dream."

"No, it wasn't. It was one of those sixth sense thingys. Yeah, I felt like I was really there! I gots to go help those poor doggies." 

Rita quickly accepted the fact that it was an SOS, but since it sent out by dogs, she wasn't very interested. "Alright, but Cape Cod is a long way from here."

"The dogs told me to take a greyhound," said Runt.

"How long will you be gone?" asked Rita.

"Not too long. I'll be back as soon as I can," said Runt. He turned and walked out of the alley. A second later, he came back.

"Forgot something?" asked Rita, who was trying to get back asleep.

"Yeah. Where's Cape Cod?"

Rita sighed. "In Massachusetts. Near Boston."

"Okay, thanks. Bye, now." Runt turned around and left. 

"I give him five days tops," mumbled Rita as she hummed herself to sleep.

*****

Miles away, somewhere in the desert southwest, stood a town. A freaky town. A town where stuff happens that people consider...freaky.

One of the houses in this town looked rather unusual, as if it had popped up there only recently. There were a few lawn gnomes in the lawn that appeared to be spying on you if you saw them out of the corner of your eye. The house loomed over you like a cathedral facade. 

In case you haven't guessed already, this is the house of Zim the alien. And right now, Zim was trying to fall asleep on his bed. Normally, Zim slept in a strange-looking container. But tonight, Zim was curious about this human activity called "sleep". He had discussed it with his robot, Gir, several hours ago.

"The only way I can take over this puny planet without everyone seeing me do it is when the inhabitants of Earth are..." Zim quickly glanced at a dictionary. "...asleep." Gir was about to say something, but Zim interrupted him. "But before I do, I must experience this 'sleepness' thing myself in order to know what I'm dealing with. Gir! I order you to acquire a..." He glanced at the dictionary again. "...bed, which is the object that these humans sleep in." 

Gir zoomed out of the house. Ten seconds later, he brought back a bed. The problem was, there was a kid already in it. The boy began screaming.

"Gir! Dispose of this intruder!" 

Gir grabbed the screaming kid and kicked him through a window. The boy landed half a block away and ran home, still screaming.

"O.....kay. Now then!" exclaimed Zim. "It is now time for..." (Glance at dictionary one last time.) "...bed time."

"Hooray!" cried Gir in his screechy voice.

Now, Zim was trying to fall asleep. He wasn't having much luck.

"Gir! I just remembered something! These humans do this thing called 'counting sheep' to fall asleep. I wonder if that will work."

"Why dont'cha try chickens? Or monkeys? Or..."

"Silence!" bellowed Zim. He calmed down and lay his head down on the pillow. "Now let's see...one..."*snore* Zim was asleep.

Gir sighed. He was just about to walk down to the basement to deactivate himself, when the canine SOS finally reached him.

A thought flooded his memory bank. It was similar to Runt's dream, only instead of a bunch if dogs in the prison, there was only one big red one.

That red one was Friskett. His sixth sense was slightly different than the other dogs. His was more...computerized. This allowed robots and computer animated dogs to understand the SOS. A binary code of ones and zeros contained the message, which was quickly deciphered by Gir's built-in translator.

"Ooooooh! A covert rescue operation!" Suddenly, Gir's blue eyes turned bright red. "I will carry out the mission, sir!" His eyes became blue again and he giggled.

Gir didn't waste any time. He put on his dog costume and wrote a note to Zim. It read: "Taking greyhound to cape full of cod. Be back in day or two. Promise to keep Irken goal in mind. I like saying Irken. Irken irken irken irken irken irken. That's funny. Hee-haaa!"

Gir left the message on the kitchen table. He then ran out the door (making little squeaking noises all the way) and went to look for a greyhound...whatever that was.

******

Friskett's binary version of the SOS also reached the ears of Goddard, the robot dog built by Jimmy Neutron. Goddard was in 'sleep mode', but he woke up right after the message was translated. He realized he had to get to Cape Cod to save the imprisoned canines, but the message specifically instructed him to take a greyhound. Goddard assumed the message meant a Greyhound bus. Also, Jimmy had taken out Goddard's rocket boosters due to malfunctions, so he couldn't fly to Massachusetts.

Goddard got up from his bed and walked over to Jimmy, asleep in his bed. Goddard printed out a paper explaining where he was going and when he was expected back. He placed the paper on his bed, licked Jimmy's face without waking him up, and walked out of the room. 

When Goddard reached the sidewalk, his internal Global Positioning System located the nearest Greyhound bus terminal. A set of roller skate wheels popped out of his metal feet, and Goddard rolled off into the night.

******

"Cat?" said a voice in the darkness.

On the edge of a cliff overlooking a town, a very odd house stood up out of the ground. Half of it looked like a bone, the other half looked like a fish. The two-way mailbox read 'CatDog'.

The animated anomaly was in a bed in the uppermost room in the house. Dog had just woken up from the SOS dream.

"Cat!" repeated Dog, who nudged the other half of his body awake.

"...huh...wha?" grumbled Cat.

"We need to go, Cat," whispered Dog.

Cat sighed. "I told you not to drink so much water before bed, Dog."

"No, Cat," whispered Dog, excitedly. "We need to go to Cape Cod. On a Greyhound."

Cat glared at Dog on the other side of the bed. "Dog, there are three good reasons why we aren't going anywhere tonight. One, it's the middle of the night. Two, Cape Cod is on the other side of the country. And three, I had the same dream you had, and I am not interested in seeing if it's true or not."

"But it is true, Cat! I could feel it!" Dog argued. He started climbing out of bed.

"I'm sure someone else can save them...OW!" Cat's head hit the floor as Dog headed for the stairs.

"Please, Cat? A lot of the dog's on TV were there. I saw them!"

"What 'dogs on TV'?" asked Cat, who clumsily followed Dog down the stairs.

Dog pointed to the blank screen of the television. "Doggies from some of our favorite shows were being locked up, Cat! We gotta save them."

"Yeah," thought Cat to himself. "And I'll bet we'll get a hefty reward from saving them, too." He turned to Dog. "Okay, Dog. Let's go save them."

"Hooray!" yelled Dog. He quickly ran out of the house with Cat dragging behind. 

"Wait, Dog!" shouted Cat. "We need to catch a Greyhound right?"

Dog stopped. "That's right, Cat. Where can we find one?"

"Well, if we're talking about the Greyhound bus, not the dog, there should be one in town someWHERE!" exclaimed Cat, who was prematurely whisked away when Dog began running again towards town.

(The Greasers also received the SOS message, but since they enjoyed it when other pets suffered, they saw no reason to help out.)

******

In the state of Kansas, in a town called Nowhere, a farmhouse sat on the outskirts of the town. Eustace, Muriel, and Courage the cowardly dog were all asleep inside the house. 

Suddenly, Courage screamed himself awake. He looked around. He was on the foot of his masters' bed. Fortunately, Eustace and Muriel didn't wake up because they were in a deep sleep. 

Courage was rather shaken by what had just happened. He dreamed that he was running through a wide open field in the middle of the day, laughing and frolicking around all over the place. Then, BOOM, the scenery changed. It was night, and he was suddenly looking at what must've been the most high-security animal shelter in the world. The dogs on the other side were pleading with him to set them free. Then he woke up.

Courage gulped. His sixth sense was telling him that his last dream was for real. Somewhere, those dogs were actually being held. But where? Courage thought hard. Those dogs had said something like 'greyhound' and 'Cape (what was it?)...Cod!" 

Courage ran to the book shelf and pulled out an atlas. It wasn't long before he located Cape Cod on the map. Courage was shocked to discover that Cape Cod was halfway across the country! It must've been a very powerful message, Courage thought.

Courage returned the book to the shelf. He wondered if any other dogs had heard the message. 

Courage made up his mind to go rescue the dogs. This message was authentic, he was sure of it. If he could rescue those dogs, maybe he wouldn't have to hear that creepy message anymore. Besides, he'd do the same for Muriel of she was in trouble. Which reminded him: How was Courage going to tell Muriel he was gone without warning?

Courage grabbed a pen and paper and wrote out a message. "Dear Muriel & Eustace. Invited on vacation. Be back very soon. Courage." It was kind of sloppy, but now his masters had no reason to worry. He left the note on the kitchen table.

Courage walked out the front door and headed towards town under the starry sky. He began whining. He hated having to leave Muriel like this. What if something happened to her? But the cries and pleas from those canines were too much for Courage to resist. He continued walking, as he began wondering if there were any travel agents in Nowhere.

****** 

A couple hundred miles east of Nowhere lay the great Mississippi River. A lonely road crossed the river via a metal arch bridge. Nearby, on the Missouri side of the river, a pale white light was shining. It grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, it went ZAP!!! and disappeared. A grey dog collapsed on the ground in it's place.

The dog stood up on his two feet. His licence tag read 'Astro. Property of the Jetsons.' Astro looked around. He had no clue where he was.

He did know how he had gotten there. Several hours ago, Elroy had been working on a new time machine, after the old one zapped his family to the Flintstone's time period (and therefore creating one of the greatest cartoon crossover movies of all time. And no, Dino's not in this story.) After Astro's family was asleep, he went to look at Elroy's new time machine, but his tail must've flipped a switch or something (just like before) and before he knew it, he was here. On some planet with a river, a bridge, and a sign that said 'Mississippi River' on it!

Astro gasped. "I don't berieve it!" he whispered in Scooby-Doo talk (both dogs do sound remarkably similar.) He remembered that word 'Mississippi' from one of Elroy's history books. The time machine worked! He was still on Earth, but in a different time. 

Astro looked around harder. Judging from the landscape, distant buildings, and star positions, he guessed he was somewhere around the early twenty-first century.

Astro was just about to ask himself how he would get home, when the SOS message hit him. In Astro's time, a dog's sixth sense has become greatly evolved. So when the message hit Astro, he felt as thought he was experiencing the dream first-hand! It was as if he actually was in Cape Cod, looking at the prison, hearing the howls and messages from the dogs inside. When it ended, Astro was more than a little stunned.

"Row! Ri rotta rave rem!" (Trans: "Wow! I gotta save them!")

He knew where they were and how to get there. But where was this 'greyhound' anyway?

Astro walked up the bank and onto the road heading toward the nearest town.

****** 

Speaking of Scooby-Doo, him and his human friends were spending the night in a spooky, old, haunted hotel in Indiana. At least, it WAS haunted before the meddling kids discovered that the person in the cheap ghost costume was none other than the manager of the hotel! He discovered an iron ore deposit on someone else's property, and decided to scare away everyone with his ghost outfit. But thanks to Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang, the oil was now being drilled by its rightful owner. 

Scooby was in the hotel kitchen when the SOS message hit him. After figuring out what the message meant, he tried to tell Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma the news.

"A vision of dogs in trouble?" asked Velma with surprise. "Jinkies! That sounds important!"

"I'll say. Those poor dogs!" sympathized Daphne.

"I guess we'd better go investigate," announced Fred.

Scooby quickly objected. "Rogs roney," he mumbled.

"Dogs only?" repeated Shaggy. "Well, when are you going?"

"Roon. Rorrorow, raybe," answered Scooby.

"Tomorrow, sounds good," said Fred. "We're still getting over our last mystery."

Scooby sighed. He wanted to help those dogs, but he was so tired right now. He needed to get some sleep first.

******

By now, the sixth-sense message was beginning to fade out and lose its sense of urgency. By the time it reached Townsville, it sounded like a simple plea more than a panicked cry for help. Several dogs in Townsville heard it, including the white one who talked.

Talking Dog, or T.D. to his friends, lived in a one-room apartment in the north side of Townsville. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard the SOS. He lazily wrote down the message on a piece of paper and got into bed.

"I'll take care of it in the morning," he mumbled to himself before falling into a deep sleep.

******

At the warehouse, many of the dogs were awaken by their own message. It had circled around the globe in little over an hour! The dogs went back to sleep, hopeful that a lot of dogs heard the message.

The question was...would they respond? 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. The Bus Ride Begins

"The Bus Ride Begins"

  
  


(A.N. Fanfic reader Tortured Artist brought up a very interesting point in his/her last review, which I'm taking under serious consideration. Although the Dogcatcher is not the character in question, the evil veterinarian might make an appearance. Maybe.)

  
  


In the front of the Warner Bros. studio, Runt sat on the sidewalk. Next to him stood a greyhound. The greyhound was being cast for a role in an upcoming Warner Bros. cartoon. However, the front gate to the studio didn't open until 6 A.M. 

"Hey, uh, what time is it?" Runt asked the greyhound.

"5: 30 A.M." was Runt's answer.

Runt sighed. "Hey, duh, can I ask you a favor?"

The greyhound eyed him suspiciously. "What kind of favor?"

"Would you like to go to Cape Cod, Massa-chew-socks?"

"Massachusetts?" corrected the greyhound. "Well, sure!" he said sarcastically. "I've always wanted to go there."

"Great!" exclaimed Runt. Without warning, he leaped onto the greyhound's back. The skinny dog abruptly collapsed from having so much weight on him. Now he was pinned to the sidewalk with Runt sitting on his back.

"Wha did ya do dat for?" grumbled the greyhound, his mouth pressed into the concrete sidewalk.

"I need to ride a greyhound to get there, and you're a greyhound, so let's go!" Runt woofed with excitement.

"That's true," moaned the flattened canine. "But wouldn't it be easier to get on one of THOSE greyhounds?" The greyhound pointed down the road to the left. Half a block away stood a Greyhound bus terminal. Runt eyed the enormous buses with the word 'Greyhound' printed on the sides.

"Hey, yeah!" Runt said. "That looks like fun! How can I ever thank you?"

"How about getting off me before my rib cage caves in?" whined the dog.

In a flash, Runt began racing down the road towards the buses while the greyhound went to go look for a dog chiropractor.

Runt looked around. There were a lot of buses! Which one would take him to Cape Cod? Runt remembered Rita saying it was near a city called Boston. Runt was pleased to discover a bus that had the word 'Boston' on it. Runt looked through the open bus door to discover a large black lady sitting in the driver's seat. The lady looked down at Runt.

"Hey, honey! You want to come aboard?" asked the nice lady.

Runt looked at her name tag which had 'Pam' written on it. Runt looked into Pam's eyes with sad, reflective puppy-dog eyes.

After looking at Runt for a minute, Pam finally gave in. "Oh, who cares about that 'No dogs' policy anyhow. Come on in!"

Runt woofed with joy. He made his way to the far back as he heard Pam say, "I'm such a sucker for them dogs."

Runt passed a few passengers. They looked at him oddly as he walked by. Runt found some space in the back to lie down. As the bus finally lurched into gear, Runt fell asleep.

The bus stopped for breakfast at Moe's Dine-R...which was in Zim's hometown! While everyone was inside having something to eat (including Runt), Gir happened to pass by the place in his dog costume. Gir was beginning to misinterpret the SOS. He was walking along trying to find "a vampire cape and a clod of grey hounds", when he suddenly caught sight of the Greyhound parked in the parking lot. 

"Yippee!!!" squealed Gir. "I found it! Kudos for me!" He laughed to himself as he hopped onto the rear bumper. He couldn't reach the back window, so he stayed there until the people got back in the bus, making comments like, "The owner's a freak," and "Did you see that little black-haired boy with the glasses staring at us?" Gir also caught sight of a large, hairy dog following the passengers into the bus. Some of the younger passengers were petting him and talking to him as well. Gir was curious as to who that canine was.

When the bus began moving, Gir started crawling under it and hanging on. He crawled past the rear axle just before the bus got back on the interstate. It wasn't long before Gir spotted a hatch on the underside of the bus as dust and wind flew past him.

"Yay! I'm gonna sneak undetected by you!" he shouted. Using his robot fingers, he pried the hatch loose and climbed into the bus. 

No one noticed him as he emerged up into the rear of the bus. As Gir put the hatch back, he bumped into Runt from behind. "Ssssshh," said Gir. "I'm on a secret mission. Hee-hee." He then turned around, locked himself in the bus's lavatory, and fell asleep in the sink.

"That dog didn't look too good," said Runt to himself. He had noticed how unusually green and buggy-eyed that dog had looked.

******

Food always made Runt a little sleepy, so he didn't see the sign that said, "Now entering Retroville. Enjoy your visit." Since this was a computer-animated city, all visitors entering the city limits were instantly computerized as well. Runt was asleep, so never saw himself as a computer animation. On the other hand, Gir woke up and saw himself in the lavatory mirror. He stood up in the sink and admired himself. "Hey! I'm all shiny and reflective-y! Just like a light bulb!" He laughed as he tripped and fell to the floor with a loud 'CLANK!'

At that moment, on the eastern edge of Retroville, Goddard's sensors picked up another robotic form nearby. Gir's memory drive told Goddard that they were both on the same mission! Goddard immediately turned around and saw a Greyhound bus zoom past him. The robot was on that bus! Instantly, a giant magnet popped out from Goddard's back and before he knew it, he had a seat on the bus.....okay, he was actually on the roof, but Goddard didn't mind. His body arched so he could become more streamlined as the magnets in his feet kept him attached to the roof of the bus. Goddard felt glad that he was finally on his way. 

Three hours later, as the bus stopped to have lunch in CatDog's hometown, the two animals (or one, I'm not really sure) had finally discovered the Greyhound bus terminal. Unfortunately, their next bus to Boston was booked solid, and they didn't allow pets on buses anyway.

"What now, Cat?" asked Dog as they walked out of the terminal.

"I guess we take a cab or...hey, look, Dog!" Cat suddenly grabbed Dog and pointed towards a restaurant. A greyhound bus was in the parking lot. CatDog walked towards the bus. When they came up to the front fender, Cat looked up and gasped.

"Dog! I don't believe it! This bus is going to Boston!"

"Hooray!" exclaimed Dog. "Now we go save those poor doggies!"

"Yes, we can," smirked Cat. A thought popped into his head of all the dogs reuniting with their owners before the owners gave Cat a huge wad of reward money. Cat grinned greedily.

"Hi-ho-diggety!!" shouted Dog, who immediately ran into the bus and sat in a seat with Cat right behind him.

"Hey, where is everybody?" Dog looked around the deserted bus.

"They're inside the restaurant, Dog," said Cat. "C'mon. Pets aren't allowed in here, so let's sit in the back where no one can see us."

When CatDog reached the back of the bus, they noticed a metal cube lying in the rear of the bus.

"I wonder what this is," said Dog as he reached out to touch it.

"Wait, Dog!" warned Cat, but it was too late. The box began jumping up and down and shaking. CatDog jumped back as a canine head, legs and tail emerged from the cube.

"Wow, Cat, it's a robot dog!" Cat couldn't answer, since his jaw was hanging to the floor.

"What's your name?" asked Dog.

Goddard printed his name on his little TV screen as he stared at the bizarre creature talking to him. Goddard thought that either an experiment gone horribly wrong had just escaped from wherever it was being studied...or he had just come across the most unusual cartoon character of all time. Goddard was just about to compute the odds of a creature like CatDog being born naturally in the wild, when Cat spoke up.

"Well, Goddard," said Cat, amusingly, "What brings you here?"

'Classified information' was posted on the screen.

Cat and Dog looked at each other. What could that mean? 

They didn't have a chance to ask, because the bus passengers came back onto the bus. They had been kept entertained by Gir and Runt in the restaurant. Gir was balancing things and break dancing on the restaurant table for the adults, while the kids were kept entertained by Runt, who did more simple dog tricks. The passengers got back into their seats as CatDog and Goddard hid in the back. No one knew they were there...until Gir and Runt spotted them.

It took several minutes for everyone to introduce themselves. Gir and Runt were surprised to see Goddard ("a metal doggie!" exclaimed Gir enthusiastically) but they were REALLY shocked by CatDog, who eventually convinced them that they were not aliens. Gir seemed disappointed by that fact. Only Goddard knew why. His sensors had scanned Gir and revealed that he was actually a robot with an electronics system that was far more advanced than anything on earth, albeit slightly defective. Goddard felt it was wise not to inform CatDog and Runt about Gir's secret identity.

Some of the passengers had reached their destinations already, so the bus was a little less crowded than before. CatDog and Gir decided to sit side by side in two seats while Goddard and Runt stayed in the back. Dog looked at the scenery lazily as Cat tried to figure out why Gir's eyes were staring in two different directions like a chameleon.

Late in the afternoon, the Greyhound finally entered Kansas. Pam, the driver, spoke up on the bus intercom. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we shall be making our first rest stop in the town of Nowhere, Kansas in one hour."

"Finally," said Cat. "At least then we could stretch our legs." Cat nudged Dog with his shoulder. "If we HAD any! Get it??!!" Cat began laughing hysterically until he saw Dog's blank expression. Cat resumed his composure.

"I like chicken jokes!" shouted Gir in Cat's ear.

Runt was glad they were stopping too. Goddard was in sleep mode since they left CatDog's town. He saw Gir and CatDog having a conversation. Runt sighed. He was beginning to miss Rita.

******

All day, Courage was running around Nowhere like crazy trying to figure out where the bus traveling to Boston was located. When the sun dipped below the horizon, it suddenly occurred to him that he should go to the Nowhere Information Center located in side the Nowhere Museum! Courage slapped his head. Why didn't he think of this sooner?

Courage soon arrived at the info center. He began pantomiming to the desk clerk, who took about five minutes to finally understand what Courage wanted to know. The clerk brought out a bus schedule and gave it to Courage. Courage saw that the current bus to Boston was stopping right here in Nowhere...right now! 

"Yay!" shouted Courage. He could now get on the bus and save those dogs that were being held prisoner!

His excitement was short-lived. When Courage saw where the bus was going to be stopping at, Courage screamed with fright, dropped the schedule, and ran out of the building. He had to save the bus and its passengers...before it was too late!

******

In a small town in Missouri, right along the Mississippi River, Astro tried falling asleep in the bed. The events that happened to Astro today were a story by itself. To briefly summarize what happened: Astro wandered into a town and slept in an alley. When morning arrived, he entered a restaurant and received something to eat. Just then, a little girl wandered in, and mistook Astro for her dog who ran away two weeks ago. Astro was fed and well-kept by the girl's family...until the real dog came back that afternoon. Astro ended up on the other side of town and was taken in by a kind old man and his Great Dane, Sheila. Astro and Sheila got to know each other and, by the time night arrived, became instant friends. 

Now, Astro was pacing around the room in the moonlight. The SOS had been gnawing at his mind all day. He needed to take a Greyhound, which he learned was a bus, to Boston. However, the nearest bus depot was five miles away in the next town! He had to go there.

Astro turned and saw Sheila asleep in bed with a smile on her face. Astro hated to leave her already, so he wrote her a note and placed it on the table.

Astro left through the window and onto the street. He knew he'd never stay awake all the way to the next town, so he found another alley and slept there, feeling mixed feelings about the whole thing.

******

As Astro wandered around town, Scooby was taking what he called, "his vacation". His human friends understood the fact that dogs needed their space too. So, if Scooby-Doo wanted to go off to save some dogs, that was fine by them. Scooby took the day off at a hotel in Indianapolis, where he spent most of the time at the buffet table. Still, when night came around, Scooby stayed awake in his hotel bed, wondering if those dogs were still okay.

Talking Dog, resident of Townsville, went through his uneventful day alright. He didn't even see the notice he had written the night before until he was about to head into bed. T.D. quirked an eyebrow before hopping into bed. He told himself that he'd get around to it tomorrow. (He doesn't procrastinate often, but he sure his now.)

The 100+ dogs being held in the Cape Cod were as worried about their masters as their masters were to them. Some more than others. The Dogcatcher smiled ominously as he observed his caged prisoners.

******

As the Greyhound parked in the motel parking lot on the outskirts of Nowhere, CatDog, Gir, Runt, and Goddard followed the passengers into the front lobby. Once inside, Dog started growling. Cat tried to figure out what was wrong with him, when suddenly, Runt started growling too. 

Something didn't feel right.

Pam reached over the desk and rung the bell.

Strange, muted techno music started playing from somewhere. A tall figure stood up behind the front desk.

"Welcome...to the Katz Motel," said Katz in a deep voice.

  
  


To be continued... 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Courage Saves the Day er, Night

"Courage Saves the Day...er, Night"

  
  


Pam walked up to the front desk and signed her name in the book. 

"Excellent," said Katz. "The East wing is all yours." As he said that, Katz got a good look at the other bus passengers. They looked pretty average...until he caught sight of the small pack of pets in the corner. There was a large, furry dog growling at him; a bizarre half-cat, half-dog thing (with the dog end growling at him); a sickly green dog with buggy eyes; and a robot dog with a metal cube for a body. Katz looked at Pam. "I'm sorry, madam. No dogs allowed."

Pam looked heartbroken, but as she walked away, she turned to the dogs and said, "I just can't stand to let you all stay out in the cold. Don't worry. Good old Pam will get you all in." Runt licked her on the cheek.

As the passengers went to get their suitcases, Pam got out two spare suitcases "for just such an emergency." Gir and Goddard got into one, while CatDog got into the other. Pam told Runt to stay behind her and the bags at all times. Pam successfully got the dogs past Katz and into their rooms. Gir and Goddard took one room. CatDog and Runt took the room next door.

A full moon was illuminating the surroundings outside.

Goddard stood on the bed and tried to contact his master, Jimmy Neutron. After a few tries, Jimmy finally responded on his computer.

"Goddard!" Jimmy sounded surprised. "Where have you been?"

So much had happened since he left home, that it took Goddard several minutes to answer that question via the Internet.

"Of course," typed Jimmy. "I remember installing that sixth sense converter. But when will you be back?"

"Soon."

"Soon? What am I going to do until then?"

"...invent a replacement...at least, until I get back."

"Are you sure, Goddard?"

"Positive."

"All right. I'll get right to work. Thanks for notifying me. See you later."

As Goddard talked to Jimmy, Gir was in the bathroom talking to Zim. A camera had popped out of his head and was recording himself to the main monitor in Zim's underground lair.

"Gir!" yelled Zim. "Where in the cosmos have you been??!! I've been searching for you all day!"

"Sir!" said the red-eyed Gir. "I am undergoing a secret covert operation!"

"Operation? What kind of operation?" asked Zim.

Gir's eyes turned blue again. "If I told yoooou, it wouldn't be a secret anymore!" laughed Gir in a sing-song voice.

Zim gritted his teeth. "Gir! I order you to return home immediately!!!"

"Awww...sure thing, sir...as soon as operation 'save the doggies' is completed! Over-and-out."

"Wai-!" shouted Zim, but he was cut off. At his house, Zim pondered where Gir could be. "Oh, I don't really need him right now...there's not much going on here anyway." At that moment, a roach walked up to Zim. It's antennae began to touch Zim's foot. Zim looked down at his foot and saw the roach.

"AAAAA!!! VERMIN!!!" So Zim dove into the toilet and closed the cover behind him.

Back at the motel, Cat and Dog were having a heated argument about Katz. Cat wanted to talk to Katz, since he hadn't talked to another cat in days. Dog, however, had a bad feeling about Katz. 

"Cat," whined Dog. "I don't want to talk to that cat downstairs. He looks creepy."

"Well, you don't have to. I'll do all the talking," replied Cat.

"But, Cat..." said Dog, trying to think of an excuse. "...I have to go to the bathroom."

Cat sighed. "Fine. Make it quick."

CatDog walked over to the bathroom. Runt, who was sitting in the corner watching the argument, spoke up. "Hey, how do you do that?"

"Do what?" asked Dog.

"Go to the bathroom."

Cat, who was already in the bathroom, yanked Dog into the room and closed the door before Dog could answer.

Alone in the room, Runt lay down on the bed and sighed. He felt so out of place. If Rita were here, he could play hide-and-seek with her, or have Rita sing to him. He needed someone to play with...someone to stop him from being so bored. Sure, the bus passengers and those other pets were fun to hang around with, but right now, he needed some fun.

Runt suddenly caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window and saw a spider crawling down the window pane. It was huge! Almost as big as the window itself!

Instead of feeling scared, dim-witted Runt felt excited. Finally, someone to play with! Runt watched as the spider squeezed through the window and into the room. Runt crouched down on the bed, his tail wagging like crazy. The spider crawled along the floor towards the bathroom. It sensed CatDog using the sink. "Fresh prey," it thought.

Suddenly,...

"Jump on the spider!" shouted Runt as he leaped off the bed and landed right on the spider. It exploded under him with a wet SPLAT.

"What was that?" asked Dog, drying his paws. Him and Dog opened the door and saw a sickening sight. Runt stood in the middle of the room with a sorrowful look on his face. A crumpled mass of legs stuck out from under his paws. Green spider guts were splattered all over the room. It was sticky and stunk.

"Spider go boom," said Runt, acting like a kid who'd been caught stealing candy.

"Eww. Looks like this place has a bigger bug problem than I thought," muttered Cat, feeling sick.

Dog was about to agree, when suddenly, a bunch of screaming was heard out in the hall. CatDog, Runt, Goddard, and Gir all opened their doors at the same time. They were greeted with quite a sight. Bus passengers were running down the hallways with giant spiders at their heels! Some people were whacking at the spiders with suitcases or purses. Through all the commotion, Pam could be heard yelling at the top of her voice, "Everyone back on the bus! Now!"

CatDog and Runt decided to follow her advice and began running down the hall towards the lobby, dodging spiders all the way. Gir, on the other hand, jumped on the back of a passing spider and began riding bareback on it like a cowboy at a rodeo. "Yeeeeee-haaaa!!!" he shrieked. Meanwhile, Goddard noticed some people were not getting out of their rooms, because they didn't want to leave their luggage. Goddard also realized the spiders couldn't harm his metal body, so he decided to help all those people get out of their rooms and retrieve their luggage.

Down in the lobby, it was utter chaos. People running and screaming all over the place. Runt and CatDog saw the front doors and the bus in the parking lot.

"C'mon!" shouted Cat to Runt. "There's our ticket out of here!" 

But before they could escape, Katz ran up and blocked their way. "No one ever leaves the Katz Motel!" he shouted menacingly.

"Is that true?!" yelled Dog fearfully.

Katz thought for a moment. "Well, no...but my spiders were full last time. And now..."

"A-hahahahaha!!" laughed Gir, as he rode past Katz on the spider.

Katz watched Gir run off, and then continued where he left off. "And now, my spiders are most hungry."

With that, Gir's spider bucked Gir over its shoulders. Gir flew through a window and landed on his head in the parking lot. "Wheeee! That's fun!...I go sleep now!" He got up and ran to the bus, dashed down the aisle inside, and fell asleep in the rear of the bus.

Meanwhile, Gir's spider joined a pack of spiders that gathered behind Katz. They all began advancing toward CatDog and Runt.

"What do we do, Cat? What do we do?" shouted Dog.

Cat was just about to suggest pushing Runt into the spiders while he and Dog got away (not a good idea, but Cat's mind wasn't thinking straight at that moment), when suddenly, an out-of-tune Tarzan yell was heard. Then, a pinkish blur swung from a cable suspended from the ceiling. Like a super-fast pendulum, the blur slammed into Katz, who was sent flying into a cabinet, the door locking behind him.

"I wish you hadn't done that," muttered Katz inside the cupboard.

The pink hero swung around on the cable and eventually let go, landing between CatDog and Runt. The two toons observed a little pink dog with two black spots on his back. His eyes were wide and he was breathing fast. He screamed when he saw that the spiders were still advancing towards them. 

"Do something!" yelled Cat to the pink dog.

Before anyone could do anything, though, a loud voice boomed above all other noise. The panicking people stopped running and listened. Some of them thought it was God, but it was only Pam. Standing on the front desk, the big, black lady bellowed. "Hey!!! Why are you all running around??!! Get back on the bus!! Now!!!"

The passengers were more than happy too. They ran towards the doors at full speed. The only problem? CatDog, Runt, Courage (the pink dog), and the spiders were in the way! Turned out, the dogs (and cat) were scooped up by the terrified people and they all trampled over the spiders before they knew what hit them.

Last out of the lobby was Pam, who was thoroughly disgusted with walking through the mat of spider goo.

Outside, a small helicopter swooped down carrying the last of the passengers' cargo. It was actually Goddard, who tossed the belongings into the side of the bus, and ran into the bus. He joined up with Runt, CatDog, the sleeping Gir, and the new passenger, Courage.

Pam finally got in the bus, closed the doors, and shouted into the intercom, "Is everyone here?"

Goddard made it know to everyone that he had checked the motel and was positive that there were no other passengers left.

Pam immediately gunned the motor and zoomed out of the parking lot leaving the Katz Motel in the dust.

The canines were so exhausted, they didn't feel like being introduced to this new pink dog. They fell asleep until the bus pulled into the next motel.

  
  


They weren't far from the Mississippi River. The dogs and passengers got out and once again chose their rooms...this time, at a Best Western.


	5. Dueling Stomachs

"Dueling Stomachs"

When the sun peeked up over the clouds that morning, Astro arrived at the Best Western.  He had gotten up at five in the morning, when his sixth sense began buzzing.  Something told him to walk down the road until he reached his goal.  When Astro saw the Greyhound parked in the Best Western parking lot, he knew his goal had been reached.

Without a word, Astro lazily opened the bus doors (which were accidentally unlocked), walked down the aisle, and fell asleep in the rear of the bus.  He didn't get much sleep the night before.

Later that morning, the bus was far past the Mississippi River and was heading towards Indianapolis.  The pack of dogs in the rear of the bus saw Astro asleep, but no one wanted to wake him.  They came up with all sorts of theories as to who he was.  Even his breed was unfamiliar to them.

It wasn't until the bus stopped at a mall for lunch that Astro woke up.  He was met with six pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Good morning," said Dog, calmly.

Astro shook his head, trying to shake out the sleepiness that still plagued him.

"Hey, what's your name, big grey doggie?" asked Gir.

"R…rast…ro," yawned Astro.

"Who?" asked Cat.

Goddard noticed the collar around Astro's neck.  His name was written on it, so Goddard posted the name on his screen.

"Astro, huh?" said Dog, who read the name on Goddard's computer screen.

"Duh, where did you come from?" asked Runt.

"Da ruture," mumbled Astro still trying to shake himself awake.

"Where?" asked Dog.

Goddard posted the words 'the future' on his screen.

"Well, of COURSE he's from the future!" blurted out Cat, sarcastically.

Astro growled.

"Alright!  Alright!  You're from the future.  Sheesh," said Cat quickly.

"What time period in the future are you from?" typed Goddard.

His answer was a growl, but this time it came from Astro's stomach.

"Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!!!" shouted Gir at the top of his robotic lungs.  "I'll take a cheeseburger and some curly fries!"

Eyeing Gir oddly, Cat agreed.  "Yeah, I think we'd better get out and get something to eat."  

Cat then caught sight of Courage in the corner of the bus.  That dog hadn't said a word since last night.  "You coming?" Cat called out.

Courage nodded and followed everyone out the door.

Everyone stepped out of the bus and headed toward the mall.

You can imagine the look on every dog's face when they entered the food court.  There were fast food stands, vegetarian stands, restaurants, and kiosks as far as the eye could see.  Runt and Dog's tongues were hanging out of their mouths and drooling.  Courage looked like he was about to cry.  Astro, who had never seen anything like this in his life, fell to his knees in astonishment.  Only Cat, Goddard, and Gir maintained their composure.

One of the bus passengers walked up to the dogs.  He had finished his lunch and carried a backpack on his back.  His name tag read "C.G.", and he looked at the bewildered canines.  "Well, this town's my stop," he said.  "It's been nice seeing all of you.  Take care now."  And with that, he exited the building.

The dogs could now see Pam and the other passengers eating in a restaurant.  They were about to head in their direction, when they happened to spot another dog sitting in the food court.  He was a big brown Great Dane who was just about to eat two huge towers of food in front of him.  None of the dogs could believe a single dog could eat that much in one sitting, so the canines walked towards him.

Scooby Doo looked at the two towers of food in front of him.  Giant as his appetite was, he had last eaten only thirty minutes ago.  There was no way he could eat both towers; maybe one of them, but not both.  He had ordered two of everything, but it was only when he sat down that Scooby realized Shaggy wasn't with him.  Scooby sighed sadly.  He and Shaggy always ate together.

But, Scooby assured himself that he was on vacation.  He would have to make do with what he had.  Scooby was about to take his first bite, when suddenly, a voice spoke up.

"Betcha I can eat that tower of food before you can eat that other one."

Scooby peered between the two towers and saw another dog staring back at him.  He had tan colored fur, big eyes, and an even bigger nose!  Dog smiled a teasing smile.

Scooby smiled back.  "Yer ron," he said.     

The next three minutes were a blur of food and arms as Scooby and Dog made the two towers of food disappear.  Cat lounged underneath the table and shuddered when he imagined what must be going on over his head.  The robot dogs began rooting for Dog as Runt, Astro, and Courage ate any piece of food that fell on the floor.

Finally, Dog leaned back in his chair and belched as Scooby ate the last two hot dogs on his plate.  A group of onlookers had gathered around the table and cheered for Dog when it was over.

"Row!" exclaimed Scooby, wiping his chin.  "Roo rav an arazing rapparite!"

"A what?" asked Dog.

"He says you have a big stomach," whispered Cat from below.

"Oh.  Thank you," said the bloated Dog.

CatDog rolled off of the chair.  "Roah!" cried Scooby when he caught sight of CatDog.  He was so startled he actually hid behind the chair he previously sat in.  No one was more surprised by this act of cowardice than Courage.  It was gratifying to see such a big dog get scared over something like that.  Of course, if you looked at CatDog for the first time, you'd be a little startled too.

"It's okay," said Cat.  He was beginning to feel tired of everyone treating him and his brother, Dog, like a circus side show.  "We won't hurt you."

Just as Scooby was beginning to calm down, two mall security guards appeared at one end of the food court.  "Hey!" said one to the other.  "There's that Great Dane!  The one who keeps stealing the entire mall's food!"

"Let's get him!" said the other guard.

Fortunately, both guards were within earshot of the dogs.  The canines ran for the exit.  Scooby got up and ran right into Astro.

"Rorry," apologized Scooby.

"Rat's rokay," answered Astro.

Both dogs stared at each other for a moment, surprised by the fact that they spoke so similarly.  But then they heard the guards' footsteps coming closer and they started running again.

By now, the bus passengers had finished their lunch and were heading out the door when they saw the oncoming mob.  Needless to say, it didn't take long for everyone to get back on the bus.

Pam gunned the engine just as Scooby and Astro ran up the steps.  When the bus got back on the highway, Scooby and Astro spent over an hour explaining who they were and where they had been.

At Cape Cod, dark figures poured food into the dogs' cages.  Upstairs, the Dogcatcher happened to catch the evening news.  With a start, he turned up the volume as he watched the report.

"As investigators continue to remain baffled, the nationwide dognapping crime wave continues.  From Bluffington to Springfield, canines from all around are still missing.  This young boy from Bluffington had this to say."

Inside his cage, Porkchop sat up as he heard his master's voice echo from upstairs.  "I don't know where he is, but I just want him to come home."  Doug sounded devastated.  Porkchop howled with worry.

As several other people, including the Simpsons and the Pickles' (from the Rugrats), were interviewed, their respective dog howled until, eventually, the howling drowned out the broadcast.

Annoyed, the Dogcatcher took out a bullhorn and a dog whistle.  He blew the whistle into the bullhorn.  Every dog on the building stopped howling and put their paws over their ears.

The reporter continued talking.  "Eyewitnesses reported a middle-aged man in a grey van was responsible for the crime, but he has yet to be identified.  This has been…"

The TV turned off.  "Yeah, well, you haven't found me yet, have you?"  He laughed to himself.  "I hope you never do, either."

Every other living thing in the building thought the exact opposite. 


	6. A Brief Stop In Townsville

"A Brief Stop in Townsville"

Things got rather uneventful on the bus after Scooby and Astro climbed aboard until that evening, when the bus pulled into a large metropolitan city known as Townsville.

When the bus passed the city limits sign, Pam turned on the intercom.

"Okay, passengers, listen up.  When we make our stop in Townsville, we will be switching drivers.  Now, I know a lot of you have taken a liking to me, but my line only runs from Hollywood to Townsville.  Be sure you treat the new driver the same way you treated me, y'here?"

"Awww," said Runt as the bus terminal came into view.  "I'm gonna miss that lady."  A couple of the other dogs felt disappointed by the news too.

The bus parked at the terminal, and the passengers got out of their seats and left the bus single file.  Pam was surprised when she saw the large group of dogs heading down the aisle towards her.

"My, my!  I didn't know my bus would be so popular with the dogs!"  Pam walked out of the bus as each dog either hugged or licked her good-bye.  Even Gir acted normally for a moment and gave Pam a quick hug (although he didn't know why; he was just following everyone else's example.)  The dogs waved good-bye as Pam entered the terminal building.

Then, the canines noticed that most of their passengers were taking their luggage and hailing taxis.

"Hey!  Where's everyone going?" whined Courage.

"I guess this is their stop," answered Cat.

Gir began running all around the departing passengers yelling good-bye in foreign tongues and jumping around to the point of annoyance.  When he came back, the dogs noticed a tall man in his late twenties approach the bus in a grey uniform.

"Rat rust re da rew river," announced Scooby.

"The what?" asked Dog.

"I don't know," muttered Courage.  "But I think that might be the new driver."

"Hey, Robert," said Cat to Goddard.  "You think that's our new driver?"

"It's 'Goddard'," informed the robot on his viewscreen.  "And it's mere speculation as to who he is."

"Uh, right.  Thanks," said Cat, still as clueless as before.

 As it turned out, one of the passengers asked the man if he was the new bus driver.  The dogs leaned in as they heard the man's answer: "Driver, shmiver.  I'm the janitor."  He then entered the bus and began wiping the floor.

"Well, that was a waste," said Cat.

As the dogs (and Cat) went in the terminal to try and find a bite to eat, the Talking Dog walked by and saw the bus.  He stopped and gasped.  It was like a sign or something.  The dream a couple nights ago, the SOS, could have been real!  Cautiously, Talking Dog crossed the street and approached the bus.  It was heading to Boston!  What luck!  However, it was apparently being cleaned and vacuumed at the moment.  T.D. (for short) was about to go find who the driver was, when suddenly, an earthquake struck the city of Townsville at that moment.

At least, he thought it was an earthquake.  But then T.D. heard an earth-shattering roar and breathed a sigh of relief.  It was only a monster attacking the city.  (You may be wondering how T.D. could stay so calm, but monsters attacked Townsville so often, it was a common occurrence.  Besides, everyone knew who would easily defeat them.)

As T.D. stared up at the monster walking behind some tall buildings, the other dogs raced out of the terminal and into the parking lot.  Courage and Scooby ran straight into the bus.  They were met by the janitor who fought his way out of the bus and ran into the terminal.  The other dogs just stared up at the monster in fear and amazement, except for Gir, of course.

"Yay!  It's a great big lizard!" shrieked Gir.  "I'm gonna eat you!" 

"Ro rudder," said Astro, rolling his eyes.

It was a great big lizard alright.  Green and scaly, with red eyes and spikes down it's back.  He roared again.

All the dogs looked at Goddard, expecting him to fly up and defeat the creature.  But Goddard knew the odds were against him this time, and typed, "Don't look at me!  You think of something!"

However, before anyone could do anything, a pink, blue, and green rainbow arched in the sky as a "choo-choo-choo" whooshing sound could be heard.  The rays of color collided into the monster so hard, that it crashed on the other side of the buildings.

"What in the world was that?" asked the dogs.

T.D. looked at them with a 'you all must be tourists' look on his face.  "Those were the Powerpuff Girls saving the day again.  They're superheroes."

"Ohhhhh," answered the dogs.

Just then, a large piece of building landed not too far away from the dogs.  As they freaked out, a man ran out of the terminal screaming, "Back on the bus!  Get back on the bus!"

The dogs didn't have to be told twice.  They ran up the steps and down the aisle, including T.D.  They were too scared to notice that only two other passengers were on the bus.  They sat down where Scooby and Courage were sitting fearfully.

The man sat in the driver's seat, closed the door, and started the engine.  The bus accelerated and headed for the interstate.

As the bus began exiting the city, people on the street began clapping and waving back in the direction of the city.

"I guess the Powerpuffs came on top again," said T.D.

The bus's intercom came to life.  "Hello, um, passengers.  My name is Danny and this is my first professional bus drive with Greyhound, so let's make it my best by following all the bus rules, okay?  We will be driving to Boston with a quick stop in New York City to refuel.  Thank you and have a nice ride."

"He seems nice," said Dog.  But then, Danny spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, but dogs aren't allowed on the bus."  Danny was looking at the dogs in his rearview mirror.  "I'm afraid I'll have to drop you all off at the next town."

Before any of the dogs could protest, the two human passengers spoke up.

"Those dogs gotta stay on this bus," said a young woman.

"Yeah!" shouted a middle-aged man.  "They've been given special clearance by the company to ride this bus!"

"We have?" thought the dogs.

"Well……….alright," said Danny.  "Just don't make any messes back there."

The dogs stared at each other.  They were gonna have to thank that man for helping them out like that…whoever he was.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set.

(Sorry this chapter was so short.  I promise the next chapter "The Realization" will be much better.)


	7. The Realization

"The Realization"

So, now the Greyhound bus was beginning the longest leg of the journey; a several-hundred mile, nonstop trek from Townsville to New York City and then straight to Boston.  After hearing the word "nonstop", the dogs worried that they wouldn't stop, even for food.  But the driver, Danny, made it clear that they would be making stops for food along the way (much to Scooby's delight.)  However, since it was beginning to get dark, they wouldn't be stopping until breakfast tomorrow morning.

Runt, Gir, Goddard, CatDog, Courage, Astro, Scooby, and the Talking Dog (henceforth known as T.D.) remained in the rear of the bus for about thirty minutes.  Eventually, the dogs got bored as the sky began darkening outside.  They decided to walk around and get a closer look at the two human passengers on the bus.  

As they slowly made their way down the aisle, the dogs realized that only a few of them could talk to the humans comfortably.  T.D. and CatDog had perfect pronunciation in their speech, but Scooby and Astro had rather poor talking skills.  Gir could talk, but he often said things that didn't make any sense, and Goddard could only type things on his viewscreen.  (Goddard wished Jimmy Neutron would get to work on that voice chip he said he was going to work on.)  As for Runt and Courage, they could talk, but humans couldn't understand them.  They would only hear barking, or babbling in Courage's case.

The dogs didn't want everyone crowding around the passengers, so they voted for T.D. to find out who the passengers were while everyone else listened.

Reluctantly, T.D. walked over to the middle-aged man and said "Hello."  Naturally, the man was rather surprised to see a dog talking to him.

"Uh…hello there," the man said.  "Can I, um, help you?"

T.D. looked at the man.  He was about forty years old and had black hair and brown eyes.  He was wearing jeans, a blue long-sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes.  T.D. also noticed that the man looked slightly overweight and had small wrinkles in his face.

T.D. cleared his throat.  "Me and my friends," he said, motioning to the dogs behind him.  "We were curious as to why you told the driver that we had clearance to travel on this bus."

"Oh, I just said that so you all wouldn't get kicked out.  I hate it when dogs like you are left on the side of the road like a pile of garbage…not that you are or anything."

"Oh, no, no," said T.D.  "We thank you for that.  Really, that was very generous of you."

"You're welcome," answered the man.

"So, what's your name?" asked T.D.

"My name's Tom.  I'm an electrician from Pasadena, California; a really good one too."

"I'm sure," replied T.D.  "Where are you heading to?"

"I'm heading to some little town in Cape Cod.  I have to go help a friend who's in trouble.  His name's Daniel."

When T.D. heard the words "Cape Cod", his eyes widened.  Tom was going to be in the same location!  Maybe Tom could help him save the dogs that were dognapped!

"Well, said T.D. "I'm on my way to Cape Cod as well.  Coincidentally, I'm going to help out some friends too.  You can come with me, if you're not too busy."

Tom sat back in the seat.  "Well, I'd be much obliged.  I don't know if I'll be much help, but I'll do what I can."

"Thank you," said T.D.

T.D. walked down the aisle and approached the woman.  She was talking on a cell phone and didn't notice T.D. observing her.  She was about ten years younger than Tom, and had red, curly hair, bony cheeks, and thin-framed glasses.  She was wearing a cardigan, a knee-length skirt, and high heels.  She looked like a stereotypical businesswoman. 

She noticed the dog looking at her and spoke into the phone.  "Look, boss, I'll have to call you back."  She abruptly hung up and looked at T.D.  "And how are you, little doggie?"

"Fine, thank you," said T.D. politely.

The woman's response to the Talking Dog was more alarming than Tom's had been.  It took a moment for her to calm down.

"I didn't realize you could talk!" she said exasperatedly.

"Well, we all can," said T.D. pointing to the other dogs.  "More or less," he added, eyeing Scooby and Astro.

The woman identified herself as Wanda.  She was an accountant from Santa Monica, California who was going to meet a business associate.

"He lives in a house in Cape Cod.  Really nice guy too." She said.

T.D. couldn't believe it.  "Cape Cod?  That where I'm going!  And him too," said T.D. who pointed to Tom.

"Really," said Wanda who narrowed her eyes at Tom.  T.D. thought she was just trying to get a better look at him.  Maybe it was his imagination, but T.D. thought he heard a bit of suspicion in Wanda's voice.  Suddenly, Wanda said, "Well, since we're all going to the same place, we should stick together on this trip.  Now, I'd love to sit and chat, but I need to call my boss again."  She picked up her phone and began dialing the number.  "Lots of boring businesswork to discuss.  You wouldn't be interested."

"I'm sure," mumbled T.D. as he let Wanda talk.  He kind of wished he could talk to her some more, but she was already talking softly into her phone, so he turned back to his friends.  T.D. told the other dogs about Wanda.  "She seems really busy, though, so try not to bother her too often."

The dogs considered talking to Danny, but not only was he driving the bus, he also didn't like the dogs breaking the rules by being on the bus in the first place.  So, the dogs returned to the back of the bus and sat there.  No one felt like talking, except for Gir, who kept singing some song (he didn't know the words; he just kept singing "doo-doo-doo-doo") until Cat told him to shut up.  

At this point, it might've been a good idea for one of the dogs to mention that he was on his way to Cape Cod, because, believe it or not, each dog thought they were going to Cape Cod alone and that the other dogs were going to New York or Boston.  Some of the dogs had maybe mentioned that they were going to Cape Cod, but they never had time to say why.

After a while, the dogs got bored sitting there on the uncomfortable floor, so they decided to sit in the seats.  Danny objected to the idea at first, but he eventually gave in.  

Outside, night had arrived.  The little lights inside the bus blinked on.  Each seat had a light and an A/C vent over it like an airplane.  The dogs divided up into three groups and sat in the back half of the bus.  Every dog felt a little uncomfortable about sitting on their tails and had to shift their weight.  The groups of dogs had just begun talking to each other when, suddenly, raindrops began falling on the windows and splattering on the windshield.  Danny's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Attention passengers, we are approaching a large storm system.  Weather reports predict heavy rain, hail, and lightning.  Hopefully, we'll get through the storm in time to arrive in New York…if we make it one piece, that is.  Heh heh," chuckled Danny.

Runt, Goddard, and T.D. made up one of the three groups of dogs.  Runt clumsily sat in the seat next to the window.  Next to him sat T.D.  Across the aisle, Goddard retracted his legs into his body and "sat" down.

"Gosh, that rain sure is pretty," said Runt, staring out the window.

"Yeah, during the day," said T.D.  "But you can barely even see it at night."  T.D. wasn't too crazy about thunderstorms.  He could tolerate them; he just didn't want to be caught in the middle of one.  T.D. turned to Goddard.  "I bet you don't like rain, do you?"

Goddard, via his screen, told T.D. and Runt about how he had a leak-proof, metal exoskeleton that didn't allow water to enter his internal circuitry.  Runt, however, got bored with the long, elaborate words Goddard kept using and blurted out, "This bus ride sure is fun."

"Yeah, I guess," muttered T.D.  "I mean, I've never really ridden on a bus before.  In fact, I don't think any of us have."

No one said anything for a moment until Runt sighed.  "I miss Rita."

"Who's Rita?" asked T.D.

"She's my friend back in Hollywood," said Runt.  Runt told T.D. and Goddard all about Rita's singing voice and attitude and pretty much everything else about her…except Runt forgot to mention that she was a cat.

"Wow, she sounds like a really nice girl," said T.D., who winked at Goddard.  "Don't let this one get away."

"Yeah, well I miss her anyway."

T.D. (who apparently thought Rita was a girl dog) started a speech about "love knows no boundaries" and things like that.  Runt, of course, didn't know what the heck he was talking about, so when T.D. was through, Runt changed the subject.  

"Hey, doggie," said Runt to Goddard.  "Who made that pretty thing on your head?"  Runt was referring to the electrical dome on Goddard's head that kept creating little multi-colored bolts of electricity, like a Van de Graaff generator.

Goddard explained what it was and eventually started telling his friends all about his genius master, Jimmy Neutron, which took about thirty minutes, until Goddard could see he was boring his friends.  So he asked T.D. about his hometown, Townsville.  T.D. took about fifteen minutes to talk about "the city of Townsville", and who the Powerpuff Girls were, and about his life (which was, for the most part, dull and not very exciting.  That's why he is such a minor character on the show.)

Goddard, Gir, and T.D. didn't know too much about Boston, so they began talking about what they'd do in New York.  

Several rows back, as that was going on, Courage was getting a headache trying to understand the conversation he was involved in at the moment.  Courage sat by the window while Scooby sat next to him.  The two dogs had become friends as soon as they knew about how many things they were afraid of.  Scooby was also making friends with Astro, since they both talked the same way.  Courage, on the other hand, was trying his hardest to understand what Scooby and Astro were saying.  At the same time, he was also concerned about the storm.

"Oooooh, I hope this storm goes by soon.  I don't like storms," Courage whined.

"Ryeah," agreed Scooby.  "Ri ron't rike strorms reither.  Reir creeby."

"Re dron't gret roo rany strorms rhere ri rome from," said Astro.

"Y-you're from the future.  That's what you said before, right?" asked Courage.

Astro said yes.  He then explained all about how his master, Elroy, had built the time machine that transported him here.  Astro also told Scooby and Courage as much as he could about his futuristic world…everything from flying cars and robot maids to push-button breakfasts and REALLY high-rise apartments.  Scooby listened with wide eyes as Courage only understood portions of what Astro was describing.

When Astro appeared to be done, Scooby was amazed by Astro's world.  "Row," he said.  "Rat's arazing!"

"Y'know," said Courage.  "It's funny how you're from the future and yet you two sound so similar."

Scooby and Astro looked at each other.  "Ryeah, rat's rearry reato!" said Scooby.

Astro shrugged.  "Rost rogs ralk rike re rack rhere rime rome."

Courage scratched his head.  "So, most dogs talk like you back where you're from?"

"Ruh-huh," said Astro.

"Wow.  That IS neato!"

At that point, a bolt of lightning flashed outside, which startled Courage and Scooby.

"Roo two reem rared of rots of rings," said Astro.

Courage looked at him oddly.  "I'm not scared of rings."

"Ro, rings!  RINGS!"  Astro began pointing all over the place.  It took Courage a moment to realize that Astro meant "things."

Courage whined.  He always felt a little embarrassed about his fears.  Fortunately, Scooby began talking about all the things that he was scared of.  Courage noticed that he was scared of a lot of the same things that Scooby was scared of, like haunted houses and ghosts and monsters.  So, Courage told them about things that he was scared of, which took a while.  The only thing Astro was afraid of was "rooking rown" from his apartment.  The ground was quite a distance away, but at that time period, people got used to being up high.

The group paused for a moment as the rain continued to fall outside.  Finally, Scooby said, "Ri riss Raggy."

"Who?" asked Courage and Astro.

So, Scooby told them all about Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma.  Afterwards, Courage told them about his masters, Eustace and Muriel, and some of his other friends and enemies.  Then, Astro told them about his family and some of his dog friends.

By then, hail was beginning to rattle against the windshield of the bus.

"I hope we get to Boston soon," muttered Courage.  Fortunately, the hail ended as quickly as it began.  Courage asked his two friends what they were going to do once they got to New York.

Meanwhile, near the front of the bus, Gir was driving CatDog crazy…or at least the feline half.  Dog was actually getting a real kick out of Gir.  They weren't having any meaningful conversation at all.  Basically, Dog laughed at almost everything Gir said.  Cat, on other hand, was to Gir as an old, grumpy man is to a five-year-old.  Cat hated the fact that Gir would always change the subject or say something weird.  Cat tried to tell Dog to get rid of Gir, but Gir would always cut in.

Eventually, Gir began telling CatDog all about Zim and the Irken invasion, but by then, Dog was asleep and Cat was banging his head against the window trying to figure out what combination of medications could cause a dog to act like that.

Finally, when Gir began singing "One Million Bottles of Phlegm on the Wall", Cat had reached the breaking point.  Waking up Dog in the process, Cat grabbed Gir by the shoulders and brought him up to his enraged face.

"Look!" Cat shouted in a high-pitched voice.  His eyes were dilated and red veins were visible.  "Will you stop with the blabbering??!!  I can't take it anymore!  Why are you on this bus?  Huh?  Why didn't you stay home with that Zim guy?  Tell me!  Why, why why??!!"

"That's easy, silly kittie," said Gir with a smile.  "To save the doggies in the cape of cod!"

CatDog froze.  This enabled Gir to wiggle out of Cat's hands.  "Excuse me," he screeched.  "I'm gonna go play with the toilet paper.  Bye now!"  Gir quickly ran down the aisle and locked himself in the bathroom again.

CatDog stared at each other.  "To save the doggies in Cape Cod."  That was the exact reason why CatDog was on the bus!

"Cat?  Aren't we going to Cape Cod?" asked Dog.

"Yeah.  And so was he," said Cat.

Before he could jump to any conclusions, however, a huge bolt of lightning struck right next to the bus!  The thunderclap sounded like a giant whip cracking.  All of the dogs reacted.  The most extreme reactions came from Courage, Scooby, and Cat.  All three of them screamed at the same time as everyone else either covered their ears or howled.

"Cat!  Cat!" cried Dog, trying to calm his other half down.  He could feel Cat's adrenaline flowing through his body.  "Cat, calm down!"

But Cat couldn't calm down.  The fur on his body was on end and he grabbed a hold of Dog.  Cat's claws made Dog yelp out in pain as he shouted:

"CALM DOWN??!!  WE ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN??!!"

Dog pried his brother's claws out of his skin.  "We didn't get hit, and besides, you'd rather be struck by lightning out there than in here?"

"No!" argued Cat.  "It's no more wet out there than it is in here!  Look!"  Cat pointed to the metal siding along the bottom of the window.  The air conditioning had created condensation on it.  

"But Cat, it's just…"

"Water!  I'm a cat!  I hate water!  I could be at home now in my nice, warm, dry bed, but no, you drag me here instead, and you know where that is?"  Before Dog could answer, Cat threw his fists into the air and shrieked:  "ON A BUS SURROUNDED BY DOGS TRAVELING TO SOME CITY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SIXTH SENSE DREAM FROM CAPE COD TELLING US TO SAVE A BUNCH OF KIDNAPPED DOGS!!!"

A flash of lightning illuminated Cat's muscle-strained face.  He was breathing heavily as he waited for the thunder to arrive.

"Uh…Cat?" asked Dog.

Cat turned and saw Dog looking back over the seat.  Cat turned towards the back of the bus just as the thunder became audible.

Nine pairs of eyes were staring at him.  Tom and Wanda had been awaken by the screaming and thought nothing more about the pesky cat.  On the other hand, Runt, Goddard, Astro, Scooby, Courage, and T.D. were staring at Cat with big, wide eyes.  Even Gir, wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy, stumbled out of the bathroom and looked at Cat with his buggy eyes.

This was the first time the dogs knew that they were all going to the same place on the same mission.  (As I said before, each dog forgot to mention where they were going when they were first introducing each other.  Somehow, it had slipped their minds, but not anymore.)  This was also the first time the dogs knew that they all had the same SOS dream.

The first voice that spoke up next was Danny, the driver.  "I'm gonna have to ask the cat to calm down for the remainder of this trip, please."

For a while afterwards, no one moved.  Then, one by one, each dog got out of his seat and walked to the back of the bus where Gir was at already.

When all the dogs were back there, they spent over two hours talking about how they had arrived on the bus.  Each dog described a different account about how they had reacted from the SOS dream and how they had gotten on the bus.  When every dog was done elaborating his account, a brief discussion began about what to do next.  In the end, the talking canines made an official pact to work together on saving the dogs in Cape Cod.

By the time the dogs, now officially united towards a common goal, fell asleep in the bus seats, it was one A.M., and the storm outside had finally passed.


	8. NYC

"NYC"

The Greyhound covered quite a bit of distance that night.  They exited the storm somewhere in eastern Ohio.  By the time morning arrived, the bus was already in New York City.  They would've been there earlier, but early morning traffic slowed them down a bit.

The eight animated canines were not disappointed by the city.  One by one, the dogs awoke to discover that the bus was crossing the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge.  The sunlight shimmered on the water's surface.  Up ahead, the buildings of northern Manhattan slowly grew bigger.  The dogs pressed their noses against the windows and strained to see a better view of the city.  They were astounded by the vastness of the majestic skyline that lay before them.  All the dogs had been to big cities before, but there was something about New York City that always left you in awe whenever you visited it. 

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooh!" cooed Gir.  "Ugly buildings!"  (FYI, Gir is still wearing his dog costume.  He has been since the trip began.)

Once the bus finally crossed the bridge, it turned right and headed south along the river.  Within moments, Danny's voice once again came over the radio.

"Awright, passengers.  We are going to stop here in New York for refueling and maintenance.  We should arrive at the Greyhound terminal in about half an hour.  It's currently 8:00 AM, and you will have approximately ten hours to visit the city before we depart at 6:00 PM.  Be sure to stay in the general area, because if you miss this bus, good luck trying to find another one.  Remember, 6:00 PM.  Thank you, and enjoy your visit to 'the city that never sleeps'."

Thirty long minutes later, the bus pulled into the terminal.  It parked in a giant parking space next to several other buses.  The dogs were feeling very anxious and jumpy when they exited the bus with the other passengers, Tom and Wanda.

"So," said T.D., who looked at the two human passengers.  "Where are you guys gonna be at?"      

"Well," said Tom.  "I'm going to go make a phone call to my family and tell them that I arrived at New York, and then I guess I'll hang around Broadway for a while."

"Same with me," said Wanda.  "Only I think I'll stick around Carnegie Hall for a while before heading up to Central Park."

At the word "park", all the dogs glanced at Wanda.

"Where is Central Park?" asked T.D.

Danny came up behind them and said, "To get there, you have to north here on Eighth Avenue about two blocks.  It's on the other side of Columbus Circle.  You can't miss it."  Danny yawned.  "Well, I'm gonna go get some sleep.  I'll see you all in a few hours.  Don't be late."  With that, Danny walked over to a building on the property that was obviously a rest stop for Greyhound bus drivers.

So, Tom, Wanda, and the dogs each went their separate ways.  As the two humans went to look for a phone, the pack of dogs made their way northward along Eighth Avenue.

The dogs immediately discovered how rough traveling on foot in New York could be.  The concrete sidewalk was hard and uncomfortable on their paws (except for the robot dogs, Gir and Goddard.)  There was an endless flow of noise roaring in their ears.  Cars, buses, and other city sounds bombarded the dogs like missiles.  Plus, the odor of car exhausts and smoke made most of the dogs cough or feel slightly ill.  To top it all off, people were clogging the sidewalk and making traveling difficult.  Many people shouted insults at the dogs for getting in their way.

Fortunately, the dogs only had to walk a block or so before they finally reached Columbus Circle and, on the other side, Central Park.  Columbus Circle was a circular road at the intersection of Broadway and Eighth Avenue that surrounded a statue of Christopher Columbus standing on a very tall pedestal.  It was very impressive, but the dogs were even more impressed with Central Park.

"Wooooow," said Runt.

"Incredible," said T.D.

The other dogs also muttered explanations, such as, "Row", "Unbelievable", and "Heeey! A great big green thing!"

Beyond Columbus Square, lay an opening to a vast field of green.  Large oaks and other trees dotted the landscape as well as a few roads off in the distance.  There were stone paths and concession stands too.  Far to the right, the dogs could barely make out a large pond far away.  Tall buildings peeked over the trees along the sides of the park.

It took some maneuvering for the dogs to get around the circle and enter the park.  But once they were inside, they were amazed at just how huge the park actually was.

"And right here in the riddle of Rew Rork!" said Scooby.

Astro had been in a state of shock ever since they arrived in New York.  This place was unlike anything he'd ever seen back home…although he vaguely remembered seeing this place in one of Elroy's history books.  He reached down and picked up a few leaves.  He stared at them, amazed that they weren't synthetically grown.  Astro began wishing that he didn't have to go back to his world.

"Uh-oh," said Courage.  He hadn't spoken up for hours.

"What is it?" asked T.D.

Courage pointed a paw up to a sign that loomed nearby.  To the dogs' dismay, it read, "Please keep all dogs on a leash."

"I guess we're gonna have to be careful and keep our eyes open for policemen," said T.D.

"Not to worry," announced Goddard on his screen.  He then showed the dogs a diagram of a built-in radar detection system that could identify policemen's walkie-talkie broadcasts.  "If any cops are coming," continued Goddard.  "We'll know about it."

Suddenly, the dogs heard a scream behind them.  They jumped, but it was only Gir running through a flock of pigeons.

Courage walked over to CatDog.  "What's his problem?" asked Courage, referring to Gir.

Dog laughed, "He's funny." 

"Oh, yeah, a million laughs," said Cat sarcastically.  "I think there's something definitely wrong with that dog."

Now the pigeons were turning around and nipping at Gir, who was trying to decide whether this was a good or a bad thing.  Goddard decided to be the one to help him out.  As he and Gir fended off the aggressive birds, the rest of the dogs decided to take advantage of the park's trees.  The trees were a grand improvement over the bus's small, cramped lavatory.  Afterwards, the dogs decided to head east towards the pond.  During this time of day, there weren't many people on the south end of the park, so no one stopped the dogs as they made their way over to the body of water.  Along the way, the dogs got free samples from hot dog and pizza stands (The New York style pizza was a lot thinner than the dogs were used to, but they sure didn't complain.)

Once they arrived at the lake, most of the dogs jumped right in and frolicked around in the water for about ten minutes.  Then, Goddard began barking as sirens and bells began blaring from him.  It didn't take long for the dogs to realize that Goddard had detected a policeman nearby.  The dogs ran out of the pond and began shaking the water off of them.  However, as they dried themselves off, they heard a voice that was fast approaching them.

"Hey, you mutts!  No dogs allowed without a leash!  Get outta here!"

The canines turned and saw an NYPD officer running at them with a nightstick.  All the dogs abruptly ran for the nearest exit as onlookers watched them.  The dogs ran half a block west along the southern edge of the park before crossing the street and heading south along Sixth Avenue.  The canines kept running for about two blocks before they stopped to catch their breath at the corner of 57th Street and the Avenue of the Americas (aka Sixth Avenue).  

"Is he (pant) still following us?" asked Runt.

"I think…we lost him," gasped T.D.

"Where are we?" asked Dog.  

The pack of dogs looked around.  All the tall buildings around them failed to give any indication as to where they were.  

"I don't know," said Runt.

"We…we're lost?" whined Courage.  He began quivering with fear.

"Easy there," said Cat.  "We're not lost.  We simply need to retrace our steps and then we'll know where we are.  Now, if only I had a map."

"Uh, Cat?" asked Dog.

But Cat was too busy thinking to notice.  "I suppose we could ask one of these people walking by where we are…"

"Cat?"

"On the other hand, these New Yorkers haven't been very friendly to us at all."

"Cat!"

"Although those food vendors did give us free food, so not all of them are bad, therefore…OW!"

A packet of paper whacked Cat in the back of his head.  Cat turned around and saw Dog holding a rolled-up map of New York City in his paw.  "Sorry….um, here," said Dog, who timidly gave Cat the map.

Cat snatched the map and opened it.  "Where did you get this, Dog?"

Dog pointed behind him at a subway entrance.  Next to it was a bin filled with free maps.  All the other dogs were grabbing them and reading them.

"Hey!" announced T.D.  "Carnegie Hall is just a few blocks away!"

"Rat's rhere Rhonda ris!" said Scooby.

"Rhonda?" asked Courage.  "Who's Rhonda?"

"He means 'Wanda'," corrected T.D.  "Remember?  She said she was going to go to Carnegie Hall for a while."

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Runt.  "Let's go!"

"Hi-ho diggety!" shouted Dog, who bolted down the sidewalk.

Astro looked at the map for a moment, pointed in the direction of Carnegie Hall, and shouted, "Rait!  Rarnegie Rall ris rat ray!"

CatDog, who had been going the wrong way, turned around and ran in the correct direction.  Well, Dog ran and Cat, of course, kept dragging behind as always.  The other dogs ran after them.

"Doesn't that hurt?!" shouted T.D. at Cat, who was dragging along the concrete.

"I'm (ouch) fine (augh) thanks (yah)."

At the end of the line, Gir let out a war cry and tried to keep up as his small legs continued to make those little squeaky-toy sounds whenever he runs.

With the aid of the map, the dogs eventually made it to Carnegie Hall, but there was no sign of Wanda.

"She probably already went to the park," said T.D.

Since the dogs couldn't go inside, they decided to get something to eat.  A nearby clock displayed the time.  12:05 P.M.  If it weren't for those free food samples in the park, the dogs would be starving by now.  The pack walked south along Seventh Avenue for a few blocks and then turned right.  They soon stopped at the corner of Broadway and 55th Street.  A bistro happened to catch the attention of the dogs, so the wandered into the alley behind the building.  Some shady-looking dogs were already there, but they didn't seem to pose much of a threat…especially since there were only two of them versus the eight visitors.

There were enough trash cans back there to make a reasonable buffet.  The dogs sat down in the alley and began chowing down on everything that looked edible.  Everybody was eating, except for Gir, Goddard, and T.D.  (It's obvious why Gir and Goddard aren't eating.)

"Rut's wrong?" asked Astro, who noticed T.D's lack of appetite.

"I've got a funny feeling," he said.

"Ran ri rav your rood, rhen?" asked Scooby hungrily.

"Sure," sighed T.D., who gave his entrée to Scooby.

"What kind of a feeling?" asked Courage.

"I've got an odd feeling about those two adults that are riding on the same bus as us," said T.D.

"Tom and Wanda?" asked Runt.

"Yeah.  Something tells me that there's more to those two than meets the eye."

"Are you sure?" asked Goddard.

"Well, I could be wrong, but," he glanced around.  "Remember how Wanda glanced at Tom when I told her that we were all going to the same place?"

"Yeah, come to think of it, that actually did look a little suspicious," said Cat.

"Wait, what 'glance'?  I missed it," admitted Dog.

To everyone's surprise, Goddard began playing a video on his screen.  It was taken with his built-in video camera on the bus.  It showed T.D. talking to Wanda.  Suddenly the footage froze.  Goddard zoomed into Wanda's face, which was glaring at Tom off camera.

"Hmm," said Courage.

"Yeah," muttered Dog.  "I see what you mean."

"And what about Tom?" continued T.D.  "He said that he was going to 'hang around Broadway'.  But, in fact, neither Tom nor Wanda explained exactly where they were gonna be.

"Maybe they didn't know where they were gonna go yet," argued Dog.

"Maybe, maybe not," said T.D.  "After all, how come we haven't seen either of them since they first left the bus?"

"New York is a big place," said Runt.  "They could be anywhere."

"But Wanda said she was gonna be at Carnegie Hall, and we didn't see her," whined Courage.

"Maybe she was inside, or maybe we just missed her," argued Cat.

"Anyway," said T.D. with a hint of finality.  "The bottom line is that there's something fishy about those two people…I'd bet my apartment on it.  So…"

"You own your own apartment?" asked Courage.

"Yeah, but we're getting off topic," snapped T.D.  "I want everyone to keep a sharp eye out for Tom and Wanda.  They could…even be a part of the very mission we've been set out to accomplish!"

The other dogs were shocked by that accusation.  "You mean those two guys could be the dognappers?" asked Cat.

"Think about it," said T.D.  "Most people when they take a bus to New England, they'll get off at New York or Boston or some other big city.  But are Tom and Wanda going to a big city?  No!  They said they were going to Cape Cod, just like us!  This is the best evidence yet that this is no coincidence.  Of course, I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet, but I want you all to keep your eyes open for those two, alright?"

All the other dogs agreed.  They also decided it was a good idea to head back to the bus, even though they had quite a few hours to spare.  They saw a nearby subway tunnel and decided to take the subway instead of walking.  Without hesitation, the dogs descended the tunnel.

Half an hour later, the dogs came out of a tunnel on Fifth Avenue.  

"I think we took the wrong train," said Runt.

The dogs felt rather disturbed by their first subway ride.  The hallways were dim and filthy.  The trains and passengers were loud and boisterous.  Inside, the subway was congested and claustrophobic.  People kept staring at the dogs oddly, which gave them the creeps.  And the smells were overwhelming!  The dogs felt glad to be breathing in fresh air…well, about as fresh as city air can get, I suppose.

"Wow," said Dog.

"I know," agreed Cat.  "I can't believe we're lost again."

"No, look!" cried Dog, who pointed behind him.

The other dogs looked up and found themselves staring up at the Empire State Building…all 1,472 feet of it. 

For about five minutes, the dogs just stood there staring at the building until people began pushing them aside.  Seeing nothing else to do, the dogs decided to head back into the subway and find their way back to Central Park.

An hour and a half later, the dogs emerged from a subway exit in Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan.  They looked tired and worn out from sitting on a subway seat for so long.  But at least they were in another park.  The green grass felt good on the dogs' toes.  

And the sights weren't bad either.  In the distance, across the Upper New York Bay, sat Brooklyn and Staten Island separated by The Narrows waterway.  Closer, to the right, sat Ellis and Liberty Islands.  Even from a distance, the Statue of Liberty created a sense of pride and awe in the dogs as if they were standing right in front of it.  To the left, down the East River, the canines could barely make out the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.  And, of course, nearby, traffic was flowing in and out of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

The dogs took a much-needed bathroom and food break, before they noticed a clock displaying the time.  3:45 P.M.

Goddard ran up to the dogs and told them that it would take about two hours to get back to the Greyhound station in time to go.  With that, the dogs ran back down the subway staircase they had exited from ten minutes ago.

"This is the last time we take directions from Gir!" announced Cat.  Everybody laughed, even Gir.

Only ten minutes after they got into the subway, the dogs noticed where they were on the map.  They all looked at each other and thought the same thing.  Without saying a word, they left the subway ("Only for a minute," T.D. had said) and came out the tunnel onto the street.

"So…where is it?" asked Dog.

Cat tapped him on the shoulder and pointed back across the street.

Down the street, surrounded by buildings, was a large, vacant area with chain-link fences all around.  A huge, square hole sat there in the middle of the place.  Trucks and people were moving around inside the fences.  It was basically a big, wide-open piece of concrete and gravel ground.

It, of course, was Ground Zero.

The dogs stood there with mixed expressions on their faces until Courage started whining.  One by one, they slowly turned back around and began descending into the subway tunnel again.

Courage and T.D. hung back from the rest of the group.

"Looked like you almost lost it there for a minute," said T.D. to Courage on the stairs.

Courage merely sniffed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Y'know," continued T.D, who pointed back up the stairs.  "It's stuff like that that makes me wish I had a name like yours."

Courage smiled weakly from the compliment.

"Of course, when everyone refers to you as 'Talking Dog', ANY name would suffice."

Both dogs laughed softly for a moment.  Before they could say anything more, T.D. suddenly pointed up ahead.  The subway doors were closing!  Fortunately, Runt was able to keep the doors open (much to the foul-mouthed passengers' dismay) just long enough for Courage and T.D. to enter the subway car.

Two hours later, the dogs walked out of a subway staircase directly across the street from the Greyhound station!  They were a wreck.  Their fur was all grimy and stained.  They all had dazed expressions on their faces; even Goddard seemed a little overworked.  Only Gir seemed to be his perfect, hyperactive self, which left the other dogs in disbelief. 

"I hope I never have to go down one of those tunnels again," said Courage.

"Yeah, even the Townsville subway system is better than that!" uttered T.D.

When the dogs saw the bus station across the street, they began to panic.  

"What time is it??" they asked.  Goddard displayed the time.  5:52 PM.

"Row!  Rust in rime!" (Wow, just in time) said Scooby.

Looking both ways, the dogs crossed the street and ran into the station.  Up ahead, they saw Danny heading toward the bus.

"Hey, guys," said Danny to the dogs.  He looked at his watch.  "Glad you made it on time.  Did you see the local sights?"

"Oh, yeah, did we ever!" said T.D.

Danny smirked.  As they headed toward the bus, Danny thought to himself, "I really got to get used to the fact that they can talk."

Danny sat in the driver's seat as the dogs filed past.  They had just crossed the yellow line when they stopped.

Sitting in seat 18, reading the New York Times, was Tom.

As the dogs slowly went to sit down, Tom looked up from his paper and waved at them.  The dogs waved back, never forgetting what T.D. had said about keeping an eye on him.  They looked around for Wanda, but she wasn't there.  Danny closed the bus doors.

Runt looked over his shoulder at the other dogs in the bus.  "Maybe she got lost too."

"Spoke too soon," said T.D. who was looking out the window.  Running toward the bus was Wanda.

"You sure like to cut it close," said Danny who let Wanda in.  Wanda seemed a bit flustered, so she collapsed in the nearest seat and pocketed her cell phone that she always carried.

Danny turned on the bus engine.  The A/C roared on, and the brakes squeaked as the bus was put into gear.  The bus crawled out of the station and headed toward the interstate.

Danny's voice once again came onto the intercom.  "Glad to see you all again, passengers.  We are now leaving New York, and we should pull into Boston by 9:00 PM…plus stops, Scooby."  (Danny was already well-familiar with Scooby's appetite.)  "We hope you enjoy the rest of today's ride."

Well, all the dogs would've been okay with that, if only they weren't always sneaking glances at Tom and Wanda, wondering who those two people really were…

(Author's note:  I apologize about the 'Ground Zero' portion of this chapter.  In my opinion, cartoons and 9/11 don't really go together very well.  Still, I felt that the main characters' New York experience wouldn't be complete without a stop at the landmark site.  Again, I'm sorry if I offended anybody.)


	9. Jailbreaks and Captures

"Jailbreaks and Captures"

(A.N. The only time I've ever been to New York City was while switching flights at JFK airport, so I had to use an atlas at home to pinpoint all the landmarks in the last chapter.  Just to let you know.)

The road from New York to Boston is not as long as one might think.  With no traffic, the trip takes about an hour and a half.  With stops and traffic, it takes at least thirty minutes longer.  The Greyhound bus fell victim to the latter scenario.  

As the bus traveled closer and closer to their destination, something was happening to the canines.  Deep inside their minds was a very faint call for help.  The sensation felt familiar.  Then it hit them.  It was the same SOS call that caused the dogs to travel on the bus in the first place.  Any doubts the dogs had about others being held in Cape Cod were gone now.  The dogs didn't even need to announce it.  One look at any other dog's face and they could see that all the dogs sensed it.

And the closer they got to Cape Cod, the clearer the message became.

"Hey," said a voice from behind the canines.  They all turned and saw Tom coming towards them down the aisle.  "You all don't look so good."

The dogs did look a little pale, but that was because a possible dog-napper was heading right at them!

Tom continued.  "I need to use the restroom, so could you all excuse me?"

The dogs breathed sighs of relief as Tom stepped by.  Before he closed the door, Tom asked, "Are you sure you guys are okay?"

"Uh, yeah," muttered T.D.  "We're just a little…um…"

"Bus-sick," interrupted Cat.

"Oh," responded Tom.  "In that case, I'll just be a minute."  He closed the door.

"Nice comeback, Cat," said T.D.  The other dogs agreed.  Cat thanked them.  He kind of enjoyed the fact that the dogs were acknowledging him, the only cat on the bus, for a brief moment.

As Tom was in the lavatory, the dogs peeked over to where Wanda was sitting.  She was yapping on her cell phone again.  She looked like a normal, regular bus passenger…it seemed hard to believe that she was capable of kidnapping dogs.  Then again, some of the most normal-looking people on Earth can also the most evil-minded.  

When Tom left the lavatory, T.D. asked him, "Just out of curiosity, when you get to Boston, how are you gonna get to Cape Cod?"

"Well, there's a van waiting for me at the bus depot.  I imagine Wanda has a ride home too.  What about you all?  Do you have rides?"

"Not really," said T.D.  The other dogs nodded and mumbled words of agreement..

"Well, that's not cool.  Tell you what," said Tom, who put his hands on his knees.  "There's plenty of room in the back of my van.  Why don't you all hitch a ride with me, and I'll drop you off at wherever it is you want to go.  How about that?"

The dogs looked at each other.  Could they trust this guy?

"Sure, thanks," said T.D.  "We could use a ride."

"Great.  I'll see you soon."  Tom walked down the aisle.

"What did you do that for?" Runt asked T.D.

"Ryeah," chimed in Scooby.

"Don't worry," reassured T.D.  "This will prove if Tom is really going to Cape Cod to help his friend or not."

"And what was his friend's name?  If he can remember," muttered Cat.

"I remember," said T.D.  "But I'll see if Tom does.  HEY, TOM!" shouted T.D.  "What was the name of that friend in Cape Cod that you said you were gonna go help?"

"Daniel!" answered Tom.

"He's right," admitted T.D.  "But nevertheless, don't bring your guard when we're traveling with that guy, understood?"

The other dogs agreed.

(After being a minor character in the PPG show, Talking Dog appears to be getting some much needed recognition.)

The sky turned a bright orange as the sun headed for the horizon.  At this time, high on a cliff located on the easternmost tip of Cape Cod, not a creature stirred in the huge holding room that housed the kidnapped canines.  Every dog's cage stood solitary and locked.  Well, almost all the cages.

Without warning, a "click-ching!" sound echoed throughout the room.  Every dog's ear perked up and looked out their respective cage.

Someone had busted out!

In the far east corner of the room, a male German Shepard stepped out of his cage.  He turned and saw his chain-link cage door, which was hanging wide open.  He quickly closed it and looked at his collar which he held in his paw.  His master, who was a genius with electronics, had installed an electromagnetic device into his dog's collar.  It was originally designed to activate the dog's self-feeding dog dish at home, but the German Shepard found, to his surprise, that it could also deactivate the electronic lock on his cage!  He made that discovery yesterday, but he waited until now to make his escape.

As he crept down the aisle, other dogs reached out through the cage and begged him to let them out.  Unable to resist their pleas any longer, the German Shepard began unlocking as many locks as he could.  He freed Porkchop first, then Blue, Enrique Jr., Friskett, Buttons, and Santa's Little Helper.  He was just about to free Spike, when they suddenly heard someone coming on the other side of the room.

"Hey," whispered Spike (He can talk now.)  "Can you hurry it up?  I'd like to be outta here in time for dinner."

The German Shepard fiddled with the tiny controls on his collar and the cage door popped open.  As Spike stumbled out, the footsteps came closer.

The German Shepard abruptly began climbing the cage door.  He knew that if they climbed onto the roof of the cages, they would be well hidden.  Spike clumsily scaled the door with the other dogs right behind him.

"Hey, don't get too close now," muttered Spike to the canines below him.

Eventually, the eight dogs made it to the roof just in time to see a big, buff guard walking down the aisle.  To the dogs' dismay, when he got to Spike's cage, he saw that Spike wasn't there.

"Uh-oh," said the guard.  "Da boss ain't gonna like dis."  He turned and ran back down the aisle.    

"Great.  Now what?" asked Spike.

"Psst," went the German Shepard.  He motioned over to a large air vent on the other side of the cages.  The cover was pulled aside, which created the perfect escape route.  One by one, the dogs climbed down to the floor and entered the vent, the German Shepard in the lead.

Spike looked at all the caged dogs looking at them.  "Don't worry guys.  We'll get you all out soon."  Spike turned and leaped into the vent.  "I feel so…spy-like," he laughed.

At that moment, the Dogcatcher was watching TV in his huge warehouse building.  He was watching CNN and drinking a beer in the lounge when he suddenly began to wonder when that associate of his would call back.  He was just about to get up and call his associate, but a news report caught his eye and he froze.  He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

"Today is Day Four of the nation-wide 'canine kidnappings' that have left dog owners across the country in terror," said the reporter.  "Fortunately, this string of kidnappings appears to be drawing to a close.  Police have identified the kidnapper as Hank Michelson, a retired dog pound curator from Boston, Massachusetts."

The Dogcatcher spit out his beer as his mug shot appeared on the screen.

"Hank was arrested three years ago on a trespassing charge, apparently for trying to take a neighbor's newborn puppy.  Since then, he has been living by himself somewhere in the Cape Cod area.  Authorities are still combing the area, trying to apprehend this criminal.  We will keep you updated as this story develops."

Before Hank the Dogcatcher could get into a good state of panic, two guards burst into the room yelling, "Boss!  Boss!"

"What is it?" snapped Hank.

"Some dogs have escaped, sir," muttered one of the guards.

"What?!" shouted Hank.  "Those locks were electronically made!  How is that possible?"

"Duuuuh," went the two, low-IQ guards, trying to think.

"Never mind," grumbled Hank.  "Just…get me a darn phone.  I need to contact my associate as soon as possible.  We're getting out of here.  All of us."

At 8:05 PM, the bus exited the interstate and drove down the off-ramp.  The evening sky was just beginning to darken, and vehicle headlights were beginning to snap on along with the streetlamps.  

Several minutes later, the bus pulled into the Greyhound station.  The station wasn't technically in Boston, but in a subdivision called Quincy, which was just south of Boston.  Danny came on the intercom one last time.  "Attention passengers.  We hope you have enjoyed your trip from Townsville to Boston.  As you exit the bus, please watch your step on the way out.  Thank you and have a great stay."

The bus parked into its parking space as Tom and Wanda got up and grabbed their luggage from the shelf above their heads.  As the dogs followed them out of the bus, T.D. had an idea.  He whispered the idea to CatDog and the two of them walked up to Danny.

"Listen, Danny," pleaded T.D.  "Those two people that were on this bus…we think they're trying to kidnap us."

"Really," said Danny.

"Yeah, they've got a whole houseful of dogs that they're holding capture in Cape Cod somewhere.  Could you try and get in contact with our previous bus driver, Pam, and see if either of you can help us?"

From the look on Danny's face, he was not buying the story.  "So, you expect me to just drop everything that I'm doing, go and find that Pam driver, and help rescue a bunch of dogs?"

"I told he wouldn't say yes," whispered Cat.

"Nothing personal," continued Danny in a forceful tone of voice.  "But I've got this thing called a job.  All I do is drive this bus all day and take people where they want to go.  That's the only thing I care to do, see?  I don't have time for anything else."

"Well," said T.D. with a frown.  "Maybe you should stop thinking about yourself and start caring about others for a change."

"C'mon," said Cat, tugging on T.D.'s shoulder.  "Let's just go."  The two animals exited the bus.

"I care about the passengers!" shouted Danny.

"Yeah?!  Who else?!" yelled T.D.

Try as he could, Danny couldn't come up with an answer.  Engulfed with frustration, Danny slammed the bus doors shut.

Inside the bus depot's restaurant, the dogs sat around a TV screen with Tom and Wanda.  A news channel was talking about the latest news overseas.  A fast-food pizza chain and a hamburger stand stood side by side along one wall.  

"So, who's gonna order?" asked T.D.

Before anyone could say anything, Dog suddenly yelled, "Look!" and pointed at the TV screen.  Everyone turned and stared.  Along the bottom of the screen, the following sentence rolled across the banner:  "Cape Cod dogcatcher soon to be found; authorities are closing in on his location."

"Turn it up!  Full blast!" shrieked Gir.

Astro lifted up Courage, who pushed the "up volume" knob.

At that moment, the reporter picked up on the ongoing coverage of the dognappings.  The dogs were thrilled to learn that authorities were closing in on the suspect, and some of them booed when they saw the mug shot of Hank for the first time.   

When the reporter changed the subject, the dogs began muttering to themselves.  The cops appeared to be taking care of everything.  But they still hadn't found the suspect yet, so the canines knew they had to keep going.

It was at that point that the dogs noticed Tom, who had wandered off into a corner of the room and was dialing a number on his cell phone.  

"Rut's he rooing?" asked Scooby.

"He's calling someone, but who?" murmured Cat.

"Very suspicious, if you ask me," T.D.

"Duh, who's that?" asked Runt, who thought that 'very suspicious' was a person's name.

As T.D. explained, Gir said, "Hey, where the nice old lady go?"

The dogs looked around for Wanda, but she was nowhere in sight.

"She's in the restroom," said Cat.  "I saw her go in there."

Courage began shaking.  "Oooh, this is getting really strange, or my name isn't Polanski."

"But it's not," laughed Dog.  "It's Courage."

Courage sighed and shook his head as he walked over to a seat and sat in it next to Scooby.

At that moment, a phone rang in Hank Michelson's office.  The dogcatcher scrambled over to the device and answered it.

"Hello?" said Hank.

"Yeah, it's me," said the voice on the other end.

"Finally," said Hank.  He placed his hand over the phone and turned to the two guards.  "It's my associate."  He talked back into the phone.  "I thought you'd never call.  Did you hear the news?"

"Yes, I just saw it.  You're going to have to leave right away."

"Not until you get here and help me with the proper preparations," argued Hank.  "Where are you?"

"In Quincy, just south of Boston," answered the associate's voice.    

"Great.  Get over here ASAP."

"Hank, wait," said the associate.  "I have something to tell you.  I'm traveling with a group of very…interesting dogs."

"How so?"

"Well…they can talk."

"Talking dogs?" asked Hank in a disbelieving tone.

"It's true, I swear."

"Awright, awright.  Make sure those dogs are with you when you arrive, okay?"

"Right.  See you soon."  The person hung up.

Hank put down the phone.  "Talking dogs," he muttered to himself.

"You think it's true, boss?" asked one of the guards.

"If it is, I'll be very surprised.  Now c'mon, let's go," said as he got up and left the room with the guards.

"Who were you talking to?"

Moments after Tom hung up his phone, T.D. asked the question behind Tom's back.  Tom spun around and saw T.D. staring up at him with a suspicious look on his face.  Several other dogs were looking at him as well.

"Oh…I was just getting in touch with my family.  It's been over a day since I called them.  Now, who's up for pizza?"

As Tom went to order some pizza, the dogs had a brief discussion about what to do after they ate.  It seemed the only option was to go with Tom in the van, but he was acting very suspicious for some reason.  Wanda came back from the bathroom, and by that time the dogs were also wondering if they should tell Wanda about Tom's odd behavior.  

All the dogs managed to eat all their food and began heading out the door with Tom.

"That's my van over there," said Tom.  He pointed to a white van way out in the parking lot.

"And my car's over there," replied Wanda, who pointed to a station wagon sitting about fifteen feet away from the van.

Ten figures walked down the vacant parking lot.  The streetlights created multiple shadows of everyone.  Everyone stared ahead at the two vehicles, except for Gir who was transfixed by the masses of moths and bugs that flew around the lights.  The dogs glanced at one another, wondering what would happen once they were inside Tom's van.

"Well, I'll see you all later," said Wanda, who waved and began walking to her car.

Tom walked over and opened up the two backdoors of his van.  "Everybody in," Tom announced.

The dogs didn't like what they saw.  A plain, grey room lay before them inside the van.  A rug covered the floor, and a small window on the opposite wall near the ceiling was the only indication of there being a cockpit up front.  Reluctantly, the dogs stepped up onto the rear bumper and entered the back room.  When everyone was inside, Tom closed the doors halfway and said to the dogs, "Now, it should only take an hour until we get to Cape Cod.  Until then, just stay on the rug and try to relax.  And could one of you close these doors for me?  Sometimes they pop open when you close them from the outside."  Tom smiled at the dogs for a moment before he suddenly walked over to the driver's side.

"So," said Courage.  "Who's gonna get the door?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a "SLAM!"  The dogs jumped and looked around.

Someone had slammed the doors shut from the outside!

Scooby and Astro ran over to the doors and tried to open them.  "Rit's rocked!" they said.

Just then, Tom started the engine and put the bus into gear.  The other dogs began pounding on the wall, trying to get Tom's attention.  Goddard extended his neck and tried to look through the window.  Unfortunately, it was an opaque window and the radio was blaring anyway, so Tom wouldn't have noticed.

"I should've known Tom was a dognapper!" shouted T.D.  

Runt, Courage, Scooby, and Astro began whining and quivering with fear.  Gir and Goddard tried unsuccessfully to come up with a plan of escape.

"Hey, look on the bright side!" announced Cat.  "At least, we'll get to see where all the other dogs are being held."

T.D. sighed.  That was true, but this wasn't how he expected to get there.  It also looked like his predictions about Tom were true as well.

At the first stop light, a car honked beside Tom's van.  It was Wanda, in the left-turn lane.  She smiled and waved at Tom.  Tom forced a smile on his face and waved back as Wanda's car turned to the left and pulled into a gas station.

Tom sighed.  "Well, looks like this one-way trip to Cape Cod is finally coming to an end," he mumbled to himself as the van zoomed down the road in the direction of Hank's warehouse.

Next chapter: Hank's Associate 


	10. The Associate

The Associate

"Are we there yet?" asked Spike with annoyance.

He and the other dogs had been following the German Shepard through the building's massive network of a/c vents for almost an hour.  Behind the German Shepard, Friskett and Buttons had to crouch down in order to fit through the vent.  Blue, Enrique Jr, Porkchop, and Santa's Little Helper were small enough to walk normally through the vents on all fours.  Spike was, uh, bringing up the rear.

Their search for a way out was not going as planned.  Every exit they came to was an exit into another room.  The dogs didn't realize just how big the place was.

The German Shepard was worried that they may have to return back into the warehouse, when suddenly, the scent of pollen and salty sea air brushed his nose.  There must be a way outside, he thought.  The other dogs picked it up too.  They grew antsy as the smell became stronger and stronger.

At last, the German Shepard came to a vent that had grass leaking out of it.  A soft breeze blew against everyone's fur as the leader unlatched the grate and tumbled out onto the ground.  One by one, the dogs emerged from the building.  They were surprised to see that it was night.  The edge of the cliff lingered nearby like it was the edge of the world.

"Whew," grumbled Spike, who was the last one to step out of the building.  "I think I've seen enough butts for one night.  Can we just go now?"

The German Shepard nodded.  He motioned everyone to follow him and be quiet.  They made their way slowly towards the front of the building.

Everyone was thinking different thoughts at this point.  The German Shepard wanted to get off of the property as quickly and as quietly as possible.  Friskett wished he could attack the person responsible for kidnapping everyone.  Buttons began wondering if his little girl, Mindy, was alright.  Blue wondered why there weren't any clues now that they were out.  Porkchop wished he could have something to eat, and Santa's Little Helper wished he could have something to drink.  

Spike began wondering why Enrique Jr.'s head was so huge, when the German Shepard suddenly stopped at the corner of the building.  All of the dogs got on each other's shoulders and peeked around the complex.

A white van was driving up the long, winding driveway.  It stopped in front of the front doors.  A man got out of the van and walked over to a door on the far end of the building's façade.  Tom looked around and then walked through the door, slamming it behind him.

The German Shepard gave Spike a look that asked, "Who was that?"

"Beats me," said Spike.  "He probably works for whoever runs this place.  C'mon, let's scram!"

The dogs only took a few steps before they suddenly realized that they had no clue where they were or where their homes were!  Everyone looked at the German Shepard.  He looked worried for a moment, but then his eyes traveled to the white van.  He turned to Spike, who immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Whoa, there, big guy," he laughed.  "Are you telling me that we're gonna ride outta here in that van?"

The German Shepard abruptly turned and headed toward the vehicle.

"…okay," muttered Spike as everyone followed him.

When they reached the van, the dogs were shocked to hear pounding coming from inside!  Spike wandered to the rear of the van and sat in front of the rear bumper.  He was just about to ask the German Shepard who could be inside, when the rear doors suddenly flew open with a 'BANG'!  Scooby and Astro landed hard on the ground as the other dogs in the van peered out cautiously.  

Courage caught sight of Spike and the other canines.  "What are you all doing out here?!" he asked shakily.

Spike sat up.  "We were gonna ask you the same thing."

"Long story," said Talking Dog, who hopped out of the van.  "Right now, we've got to save the dogs that are trapped in there."  He pointed at the building.

The German Shepard nodded.  Even though he planned on leaving them all here, he now reconsidered.  Nearby, Spike sighed.  As much as he hated that place, he remembered telling the other locked dogs that they'd come back for them.  "Alright.  But this time, we go through the front door.  I don't think I could stand another minute in that metal rat maze."

So, the sixteen canines made their way to the front door.  As they walked, most of the dogs sniffed each other out.  It was the quickest way to find out who they were and where they were from.  Goddard and CatDog startled some of the escaped dogs by their appearance alone, but not too badly.  And Gir, once again, received mixed reviews from the newcomers.

The canines finally reached the door that Tom entered.  The German Shepard and T.D. peered inside.  It was only a small, deserted office.  The room soon became filled with dogs trying to figure out where to go from there.  Scooby suggested to go through the only other door in the room, which went deeper into the building (it took a moment for everyone to understand what he was saying, especially when Astro tried translating it.)  A couple minutes went by as the dogs tried to open the door (no one could turn the knob.)  Finally, Courage managed to turn the doorknob hard enough to open the door.  A long hallway greeted their eyes.  The dogs formed a line as they cautiously crept down the aisle.  If anyone came, Friskett was to attack at once, said T.D.

At the end of the hallway was a T-intersection going left and right.  The dogs jumped when someone ran by, but the person didn't see the advancing canines down the hall.  

Once at the intersection, the dogs soon saw a door to the left that read, "Observation Room 1".  The German Shepard had a gut feeling that the imprisoned dogs were very close by, so he stood by as he allowed all the other dogs to go before him.  The German Shepard felt it was best to let everyone else see the hundreds of dog cages before he did.

To everyone's surprise, the door actually opened up into a large dark room with a large window on one wall. On the other side of this room was a figure who sitting in a chair, not paying attention to the dogs at all!

Before the canines could identify this silhouetted person, the door (on some automatic trigger) slammed shut…with the German Shepard still outside!  He clawed at the door for a moment before he turned and dashed down the aisle, trying to find the control room.

It was pitch black in the room, but only for a minute.  Then, small spotlights shined down on the terrified dogs.  Then, the silence was broken when an old, booming voice said smoothly, "Hello there, little doggies."

"Who are you?!" shouted the dogs who could talk.

The voice showed much amusement to that remark.  "So you all can talk!  At least, some if you.  I see big things for those who do."

"Why are you doing this?!" yelled T.D.

"There there, dog.  All will be revealed in time.  But first," Hank reached for the light.  "Let me introduce myself."  The dog catcher's room lit up.  The two rooms were divided by a panel of glass, so the dog's room became illuminated.  The dogs could see an old man sitting in front of a desk on the other side of the glass.  "My name is Hank Michelson, and I am responsible for you all being here."

Most of the dogs growled at Hank's smiling face.  T.D. tried to remain calm as he asked, "And you did all this alone?"

"Of course not!" laughed Hank.  "I have guards and henchmen working for me.  Then, there's my associate who handles all my business affairs."

"Yeah," said T.D.  "We figured Tom would be working for you."

Hank looked surprised for a moment.  "Tom?" he asked.  Then he grinned as he reached for a switch and said, "You mean, this Tom?"

A light fell on the person sitting in the chair nearby.  Spike and the recently-escaped dogs were surprised to see a man whom they had never seen before being tied up with a rope to the chair and looked like he was just waking up.

The other dogs did a double-take as they recognized the person immediately.  It was Tom!

"But…why?" asked T.D., who was quite confused by this twist in plot.

"Well," said Hank.  "It's kind of hard for me to explain, so I'll let my associate do the talking."

And so, on cue, Hank's business associate hastily entered the room and stood behind Hank.  The associate looked at Tom and the canines and smiled slightly.  Runt, Gir, Courage, CatDog, Goddard, Scooby, Astro, and Talking Dog gasped when they saw who it was.

It was Wanda.

(What'll happen next, you ask?  Only 2 exciting chapters to go!)


	11. Busted!

"Busted!"

Slowly, Tom started coming to.  His vision cleared up, and he was startled to find that he was tied to a chair!  He turned and saw fifteen dogs next to him staring wide-eyed at someone up ahead.  Tom followed their gaze to Wanda and an old man sitting next to her.

"Wanda?" asked Tom in astonishment.  

Some of the dogs, seeing that Tom was awake, ran over to him.

"Welcome back, Tom," said Wanda sarcastically.  "Sorry I had to knock you out like that, but I hate it when people make such a rude entrance."

"Wh-What are you doing?" asked Tom.  The dogs were equally curious.

Wanda looked slightly surprised.  "I'm just doing my job.  I'm an accountant, remember?  Hank here just happens to be my top client."

"Why are you doing this?!" bellowed Talking Dog before anyone could respond.

"I'm glad you asked that," said Hank, who leaned back into his chair.  "I suppose you could say I'm not really a dog-person.  After a series of jobs, I finally found one I liked…the chief of some of Boston's finest.  Not police or firemen, but city dogcatchers."

Nearly all the dogs were either terrified or angered by that comment.  Only Goddard remained calm, because as he listened to Hank, he was also secretly using a laser to free Tom from the ropes that held him to the chair.  

"I loved my job, but it was what happened at home that drove me out of my mind.  You see, my next-door neighbor had this six-month old Saint Bernard puppy that always kept me awake at night for months.  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, so one day I snuck into my neighbor's house and kidnapped the puppy.  I didn't get very far before the cops found me and returned the puppy.  I was sentenced for six months in the county jail.  That was three years ago.  When I got out, I vowed to make every dog pay for the punishment and torment that I had gone through."  

Many of the dogs by now came to the correct assumption that Hank was crazy.  Goddard had now freed Tom's hands from the rope, but still didn't let Hank or Wanda see.  

"It took a couple years of planning," continued Hank.  "This warehouse was the perfect place to set up my headquarters.  I hired ex-cons, the unemployed, and basically anybody who'd want to get paid for catching and taking care of as many dogs in the state of Massachusetts as possible.  But then I thought, why just one state?  I could go national!  So, in order to do that, I'd need to get some financial planning.  That's where Wanda came in."

Wanda spoke up.  "I provided financial aid to help pay for Hank's transportation needs and supplies.  I was vacationing in Boston at the time, and Hank came up to me to explain his proposition.  I agreed and sent him the money from my office in Santa Monica.  A few days I ago, Hank drove over to talk to me about relocating.  When he left, he decided to capture some dogs on his own during the trip back."

Wanda had no way of knowing that Spike, Porkchop, Enrique Jr, Blue, Friskett, Buttons, and Santa's Little Helper were the exact same dogs she was talking about.  "I knew that Hank guy looked familiar," thought the seven canines to themselves.

"However, Hank called soon after he left.  He wanted me to be present when he came back from his trip.  So, I took a plane to Townsville, but flights to Boston were cancelled due to weather conditions.  So, I wound up taking the bus with Tom and some of you dogs."  She pointed to her canine bus passengers.  "I had planned to go alone, so you can imagine my displeasure when I learned that everyone on the bus was going to the same place.  Then again, once I learned the dogs could talk, Hank and I could plan on using that to our advantage.  Hank and I have been talking about our plans on my cell phone the entire time.  When I saw on the TV in Boston that poor Hank here had been identified, I had dashed into the restroom to warn him and decided to drive my car over here before Tom arrived.  Then, when I made sure Tom was in his van, I locked the back doors of the van to make sure the dogs didn't leave."  Some of the dogs groaned.  They should've known Wanda was the one who slammed the van doors shut.

Tom looked startled.  "You knew I was coming here?"

Wanda smiled.  "I overheard what you said on the bus.  You're looking for your poor friend Daniel.  Well, it looks like your lead turned out to be a good one."

"Lead?" asked Talking Dog.

"Yes," said Wanda.  "Looking at Daniel's identification, I called up Tom and told him that Daniel was being held right here in this building!"

"You!" shouted Tom.  Goddard had now freed Tom from the ropes, so Tom flung them aside, raced up to Wanda and slammed his fists into the glass.  "You kidnapped Daniel!  Why you…"

"Now, now," teased Wanda.  "Don't say anything you won't regret in front of the dogs."

"How did you know who I was?" asked Tom, gritting his teeth.

"I punched in Daniel's ID on a search engine, and you came up almost instantly.  Seems you were taking a little vacation when I gave you the lead.  Sorry about that.  You see, dogs," Wanda turned to the canines.  "Tom's not really an electrician from, where was it?  Pasadena, yes.  He's really…"

"You're gonna pay for this!" screamed Tom at Wanda.  "Do you hear me?"

"Yes," grinned Wanda.  "You certainly didn't act this way on the way over here.  Isn't it funny how we both ended up riding the same bus over here?  Of course, I didn't know you were Tom until I heard you say you were looking for your friend, Daniel, in Cape Cod."

"But why are you doing all this with Hank?  Why?" asked Tom.  "You can't just hold these dogs up forever!"

Hank stood up.  "That's why when we get enough of them, we'll hold them for ransom and retire on the money.  That's why I'm doing all this."

"And Wanda?" asked a stupefied Tom.

"I could use some of the money myself," said Wanda.  "Besides, Hank and I have become really good friends."  To prove her point, she leaned over and gave Hank a quick kiss on the mouth.  You could tell the dogs were thoroughly disgusted by that action.

"You're both crazy!" yelled Tom.  "You'll never get away with this!"

"Spare me the overused clichés," yawned Wanda.  "Once we're done hauling these dogs out of here, we're thinking of hauling you off the side of that cliff outside."

Tom wisely swallowed his fear and asked, "How many other dogs are there?"

"I'll show you," said Hank.  He pushed a button on the wall.  Immediately, the wall in both rooms opened up to reveal the vast room down below that housed the 100+ caged canines.  Even through the transparent fiberglass, you could here the barks and howls from all the dogs in there.  The sound pierced the hearts of all the dogs that stood with Tom.  This place was bigger than any pet store or animal shelter.  None of them had ever seen anything like this.  This wasn't like a prison.  These dogs didn't do anything wrong.  It was more like a concentration camp, only they were being kept alive. 

The cartoon canines felt lumps in their throats.  Even Gir and Goddard were taken aback by the sight.

"And now," said Hank.  "Once I lock you dogs up, we'll be ready to relocate to a different location!"

The dogs were getting worried now.  Their hopes for getting out of here were becoming dimmer by the second.

"And how are you gonna do that when the cops are searching the entire cape?" asked Tom.

"Once again, I'm glad you asked that," said Hank.  "We will transport the canines to the nearest port, where they'll be shipped out to someplace far away.  There's already a ship waiting three miles away.  Once we're back on solid ground, we'll set up a new base of operation and publicly express our demands."

"Well, I think I've heard enough," said Tom.  He glanced down and looked at his watch.  "I really hate to tell you both this, but…"

"But what?" asked Hank.

Tom looked out towards one of the large windows on the other side of the warehouse.  A smile graced his face as a pair of headlights could be seen growing bigger outside.  He turned to Hank and Wanda and said, "I think the tables are gonna be turning for you two right about now."

Before Hank or Wanda could respond, there was an enormous "CRASH" from down below.  Everyone, except Tom, turned and gasped.  A large, metal and glass cube had smashed through a window and part of the wall!  It slowed to a stop as the dogs saw that it was long, had wheels, and people were inside it.  

With a start, everyone realized it was a bus!  And not just any bus, but a Greyhound bus!  It ran into a few cages, but fortunately, they were unoccupied.  The windshield was totaled, the front fender was dented, and debris was scattered everywhere.  Outside, Tom was glad to see police car lights off in the distance.

The bus door opened and a bewildered driver stumbled out.  The dogs were stunned to see that it was none other than Pam herself!  And right behind her was Danny!

"How the heck did they get here?" asked Cat.

Before anyone could answer, there was a commotion going on in the warehouse.  Amazingly, right after the bus crashed into the room, all the cages flew open!  Dogs were running around everywhere!

No one knew how that happened.  The dogs later learned that the German Shepard had found the control room at last and disabled the lock command for all the cages.

Everyone, including Tom, stared at the freed canines down below, until Spike suddenly yelled, "Hey, they're getting away!"  Everyone turned in time to see Hank and Wanda running out of the room.

As the sound of a helicopter could be heard overhead, Tom grabbed the chair and smashed it with all his might into the glass separating the two rooms.  The glass cracked in a spiderweb design.  Tom swung back, but was surprised to see Friskett leap through the window, shattering it into a million pieces.  As Friskett raced after them, Tom said, "C'mon!"  He kicked in the door, and exited the room with the dogs.

Friskett was frantically running down the hall.  Hank was a bigger concern to him than Wanda was.  He looked into a room and saw him.  He was trying to hide behind a desk with a computer on it.  The glowing screen showed Friskett's growling face.  He crouched down, preparing to leap.  Not knowing what else to do, Hank reached out and opened up the scanner as Friskett flew at him.  With a flash of light, Friskett dove into the scanner and abruptly disappeared.  Hank looked around for a moment, wondering where the dog had gone.    Then he heard Wanda's voice outside and ran out.

Meanwhile, in Mainframe, Friskett reappeared in a flash of light.  He found himself standing in front of Dot's Diner!  Opening the door was a sad, depressed Enzo.  He still had no clue where Friskett had gone.  Friskett barked, and Enzo lifted his head.

"Friskett!" he shouted, as his dog slammed into him and licked his face.  "Where in the net have you been?!  We've been searching all over for you!"

Friskett cocked his head and whined.  He was a little unsure himself.

"C'mon, let's go tell Dot you're back!"  And with that, Friskett walked with Enzo back into the diner.

Back at the warehouse, Tom and the dogs ran down the hall.  In their hurry, they forgot which way was out!  Some of Hank's henchmen were running too.  Everyone that ran into the dogs was attacked or pushed to the side.  

Finally, a squad of policemen appeared at the end of the hall.  They escorted Tom and the dogs outside.

Once outside, everyone was surprised by the scene.  Police cars and cops were everywhere!  Fire trucks, ambulances, news vans, and animal control vehicles were scattered all around.  Police tape bordered the area.  Even a few helicopters with searchlights were flying overhead!  Many of Hank's henchmen were being led away in handcuffs.

"Where's Hank and Wanda?!" asked T.D. to Tom.

Before he could answer, Spike yelled, "Hey!  Look what the dog dragged in!"

Everyone turned and saw the German Shepard savagely dragging Wanda out of the building.  Wanda was trying to fight him off, but the German Shepard's jaws were clamped down tightly on Wanda's arm.  Tom, with an odd smile on his face, ran to the scene with a couple officers.

Wanda still wasn't calming down.  The dogs saw Tom reach for something in his pocket and feared the worst.  But, to their astonishment, Tom pulled out a set of handcuffs!  He placed the cuffs on Wanda's wrists as he read Wanda her rights.  The dogs were stunned.

"You…you're a cop??!!" they asked.

"An undercover cop, actually," admitted Tom.  "Wanda nearly gave my real profession away back there."  Tom handed her to the other officers, who led her away.  "Sorry I didn't tell you guys earlier."  The German Shepard suddenly came up and licked Tom's hand.  Tom crouched down and scratched behind the dog's ears as it licked his face.  "Besides, I had a lot on my mind."

"Ahhh," said T.D., who finally figured it out.  He turned to the German Shepard and said, "Let me guess.  Daniel, right?"

The German Shepard turned and barked with agreement.  

"Yeah," said Tom.  "I should've said earlier that Daniel was my dog.  But he's not just my dog."  Tom reached into his pocket and showed them a police badge with Daniel's name on it.  "He's also my partner."

"Or at least one of them," said an African-American cop who walked up to Tom.

"Hey, Toby," said Tom as they shook hands.

"Well, it's about time you got back here," said Toby.  "This search party just wouldn't be the same without you.  And by the looks of things, it's about to wrap up." 

Everyone turned and saw the Greyhound being towed back from the building.  The last of the dogs were being brought out from the building as well.  Pam and Danny were standing nearby.  They saw the dogs and waved at them.

Before the dogs could head on over to them, a cop ran out of the building saying, "It's coming down!  It's coming down!"  Naturally, everyone thought the building was going to collapse, so they evacuated the area immediately.

"What about Hank?" asked Tom to the running cop.

"I tried to get him, but he just ran deeper into the building!" heaved the cop.

As everyone ran, a deep rumbling could be heard and felt, which caused everyone to run faster.  

Finally, it collapsed.  Not the building, but the entire section of the cliff that the building was on!  Apparently, the weight of the building had taken its toll on the weak rock.  The building fell straight down for a while, before it tilted over and hit the waves far below upside-down.    

Everyone stood and stared at the nothing that remained.  Pam and Danny walked over to the dogs and were marveling with everybody at how close everyone had come to going down with Hank into the depths of the sea below.

(How did Pam and Danny get here?  Find out next, in….the final chapter!) 


	12. Back Home

Back Home

"So…how did you two get here?"

The dogs were huddled around Tom, Daniel, Pam, and Danny behind an ambulance.  All around, people were beginning to drive away from the scene.  Pam and Danny learned about Tom and Wanda's real identities, as well as who was Hank.

Talking Dog had just asked the two bus drivers how they knew where the dogs were being held.  

Pam and Danny looked at each other.  "Well, we wouldn't have gotten here without Tom's help," admitted Danny.

The dogs looked at Tom with surprise.

"Well," admitted Tom.  "I didn't think about calling for reinforcements until after we stopped in Boston.  You see, up until that point, I had been calling my fellow officers via cell phone about my situation.  However, they wanted to wait until I had clear evidence before arresting anyone."  He paused for a moment.  "Then, back in Boston, I had the idea of calling the bus driver that brought us here.  I needed another person to help identify Wanda besides myself."

"Ah," said Talking Dog.  "I knew you weren't really calling your family on that phone."

"Yeah," said Tom.  "It's one of my more popular excuses…although I do call them from time to time."

The dogs turned their attention to Danny.  "So, you came?"

"Well," Danny said turning to T.D.  "I thought about what you told me, about thinking of others, and I decided that, right after you left, I went and called the company about a driver named Pam who recently stopped in Townsville.  The head office said that she had to take an emergency trip to Providence, Rhode Island, and they gave me her number."

"Mm-hmm," nodded Pam.  "My brother was ill, so I had to rush over to see if he was alright.  Turned out, he was recovering by the time I got there.  As soon as I knew he was fine, I got a call from this Danny guy saying that those dogs were in trouble somewhere in Boston."  Pam smiled at Danny.  "I didn't know who the heck you were, but when you said these dogs were in trouble, I knew I had to come."

"So," said Danny.  "She told me where she was, and I drove the bus down to pick her up.  Then we drove back to Boston.  Round trip was about an hour.  We went inside to ask where Tom and Wanda went, but no one knew.  And that's when a call came through and the man behind the desk said it was for us.  It was Tom."

"Yep," said Tom.  "As soon as I arrived at the warehouse, I ran inside and picked up the first telephone I came to.  First, I called my partner, Toby.  I told him exactly where I was and to bring reinforcements…oh, and to watch for a Greyhound bus that would be heading there too.  Then, I called the bus station in Boston and talked to Danny and Pam.  I told them where I was right before I got hit by Wanda."

"Yeah," said Danny.  "We heard a 'thump' and then we got hung up.  We were worried that something happened, so we drove over here as fast as we could.  We barely even noticed the police cars behind us."

All was silent for a second.  Then, Cat said, "Was it really necessary to ram into the building like that?"

"Hey," said Pam.  "I wasn't the one driving!"

"Alright," admitted Danny.  "So, I've seen too many action movies.  I couldn't help myself."

"Mm-hmm," muttered Pam as she quirked an eyebrow.  "Well, you better be lucky they towed that bus out in time, 'cause if it had gone over the cliff, it would've been coming out of our salaries."

"Say, one more thing," said Spike, turning to Daniel.  "How were you able to get out of your cage?  We tried everything but we couldn't open the electronic locks."

"I can answer that," said Tom.  He gave everyone a closer look at his canine companion's partner.  "Before I was a cop, I was a well-educated electrician.  I helped install this electromagnetic device into Daniel's collar to turn on his self-feeding food bowl.  I assume it must've messed up the instruments inside the electronic lock."

Daniel smiled sheepishly.

"So, what now?" asked Courage softly.

Tom sighed.  "I guess we're gonna have to get you all back to your homes."

"How?" inquired the dogs.

Tom smiled.  "Don't know.  But trust me, you'll get home.  Somehow."

After that, everyone more or less left the scene.

Tom and Daniel returned to Boston and received special honors for solving their case.  Both of them stayed partners with Toby for many more years.  Danny and Pam would've certainly lost their jobs had Tom not vouched for them.  They both got to keep their bus driving jobs and continued to meet many interesting people on their travels.  Wanda was convicted on charges including animal mistreatment and assaulting an officer.  Her sentence was apparently reduced to twenty-five years in the state penitentiary.  And as for Hank, well, he never bothered another dog again.

As for the dogs, they all eventually returned to their masters.

First, they were transported to Boston's Logan Airport via animal control vehicles.  Some were more willing to travel in those trucks than others, but all of them made it to the airport.  Once there, everyone went on the aircraft that would take them to the airport closest to their hometown.  

Well, everyone except Astro.  Astro quickly fled the scene after the building collapsed.  He ran for quite a while, until he stopped on a beach on the other side of the cape.  He collapsed on the sand as the waves crashed nearby and the stars twinkled overhead.  He felt worried and confused.  Until now, he knew what to do and where to go.  But now that his current adventure in this world of the past was over, Astro had no clue what to do next. 

Astro felt so distraught, that he didn't noticed a faint white light shining behind him.  It grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, it went ZAP!!! and disappeared   He turned and saw a bewildered Elroy staring at him and saying, "Astro!  There you are!"

Astro was so shocked and happy to see a familiar face, that he yelled, "Erlroy!" and bounded over to Elroy and began licking his face madly.

Elroy pulled him off and said, "Boy, Astro, it's a good thing I found you.  You walked by my time machine one moment, and the next minute you were gone!"  Elroy pointed to a funny collar around his neck.  "I had to compress the time machine's components into this collar and then try and track your biological signal to the correct year and…well, I'm just glad to see you."  Elroy gave Astro a hug.  "Here," said Elroy as he placed a similar collar around Astro's neck.  "If we hurry, we'll return to our time right at the moment we left."

"Rin rime or rinner?"

"Yes, Astro, in time for dinner," laughed Elroy.  He held his dog close.  "I'd sure like to explore this place, though."

"Rust re," said Astro.  "Ris prace is rinda reird."  Then, in a zap, they were back in their own time, just in time for dinner.

Most of the non-talking dogs were given a hero's welcome, since their masters had watched the drama unfold on the news.   Enrique Jr, Porkchop, and Spike were greeted with adoration and applause upon their return.  Hector Con Carne's entire fleet welcomed Enrique Jr. back as Porkchop and Spike had less impressive but equally emotional celebrations.  Doug treated Porkchop to a trip to the ice cream parlor while Tommy's parents let Spike sleep near Tommy's crib.

Buttons and Blue came back to their homes to masters who were completely oblivious as what had happened to them.  Mindy held onto Buttons for hours as Blue's master, Joe, thought he had just come back from a treasure hunt or something that involved clues.  It didn't take long for Blue to get back into the swing of things.

Finally, Santa's Little Helper was delivered back to the Simpsons.  Homer wondered where he had been.  

Lisa said, "Dad, don't you remember the kidnapped dogs on the news?  Didn't you know Santa's Little Helper was one of them?" 

"Oh," said Homer.  "I thought he was playing hide-and-go-seek."

"For four days?"

"Hey, there have been some pretty long hide-and-seek games in history, little lady.  Like the Indians hiding from the Europeans, for example."

Lisa merely sighed as she and Bart fed their dog a decent meal.

As for the talking dogs, most of them managed to get to their destinations okay.  Scooby, Courage, and Goddard managed to contact their masters by phone, or in Goddard's case, by video transmission.  Courage took a plane and ended up at his home without any mishaps…except for the fact that the plane landed on the road in front of his house and took off the moment he exited.  Scooby found out where Shaggy and his friends were staying (a creepy house, of course), so he took a plane there and reunited with his friends just in time to solve the mystery.  And, although Goddard could fly home on his own power, he thought it would be easier to take a plane.  Plus, he didn't have his rocket boosters (see chap. 2.)  Once at the airport, Goddard flew back to Jimmy's house using his ears as helicopter propellers.  Jimmy was more than glad to see him.  Goddard's replacement (see chap. 4) was intolerable and was deactivated several hours after it had been built.  Since then, Jimmy patiently waited for Goddard to return.  When he did, he reinstalled his rocket boosters and, in return, Goddard licked his face and barked happily.

Gir arrived on Zim's doorstep via plane as well (although he had to be contained in the baggage hold because he kept upsetting the passengers.)  Zim responded to a knock on his door only to find Gir in his now-dirty and worn-out dog costume.

"Gir!" replied Zim.  "Thank the Irken Armada you're here!  Everything's gone mad over here!  These things called 'electric bills' have arrived at my house, and this odd thing called 'Oprah' just won't go away!"

"Is the funny monkey show still on?" asked Gir.

"Well, yes, but…"

"Yee-ha!!" Gir threw off his dog suit and planted himself on the couch.  "Hey, buddy!  Wash that thing for me will ya?"

"But…rrrr," growled Zim as he took up Gir's filthy dog costume and headed down the basement towards the laundry room.  However, he tripped on the stairs and crashed on the bottom step far below.

"Ouch."

Meanwhile, T.D. caught a plane to Townsville and eventually crashed in his apartment.  What with everything that happened to him over the past five days, he needed a much needed rest.  "It sure feels good to be back home," he said to himself as the Powerpuff Girls fought yet another monster outside.

Finally, Runt had a difficult time telling people he was from Hollywood because he was a stray.  So, he had to "accidentally" sneak aboard a Hollywood-bound airplane.  Once there, he managed to somehow locate the alley he commonly stayed at.  Rita the feline was waiting there.

"I knew it," she said.  "Didn't I tell you?"

"Yep, definitely," agreed Runt.  "Definitely did, yep…….uh, tell me what?"

"I knew that you'd be coming back within five days, and look at that!  Five days!"

"Oh."

"So…how was Cape Cod?" asked Rita.

"Oh, it was great and everything, but…"

"Did you save the canines that were captured there?"

"Oh yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"It's really feels good to be back."

"I'm sure it does," Rita smiled at her big furry friend.  "I'm sure it does."

The End…or as Mindy would say, "OK, I love you, bye-bye."


End file.
